Author

Pieter Koolwijk

Pieter Koolwijk (b. 1974) first started writing for his football club’s newsletter, with reports about games that had never happened. He had been writing short, imaginative stories for adults for some time, but his real breakthrough came with his first children’s book, Vlo en Stiekel, in 2011. In his stories, he stands up for vulnerable children with active imaginations. Roald Dahl has always been his favourite writer, as can be seen in his books, which are bizarre, a bit twisted, but above all hilarious.

Matey

Matey

(Lemniscaat, 2020, 256 pages)

The man who runs the scrapyard just outside the village is a troll, the teacher is a witch and the nursery owner is a kidnapper. No one realises, though, except for Ties and his invisible friend, Matey. Luckily, Matey is also a superhero. They’re the only ones who can save the world – so that’s what they do. They just have to accept that no one understands them and that angry neighbours keep phoning Ties’s parents or banging on the front door almost every day.

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Photo: Evelien Drenthen
Authors and translators Writers