Author

Frank Martinus Arion

Frank Martinus Arion (1936-2015) is the most important black Dutch-language author from the Netherlands Antilles. His debut novel, Double Play, was the perfect springboard for his literary career. It won the Van der Hoogt Prize and has been reprinted countless times; in 2017, it was made into a movie. Arion was someone who not only professed his ideas in numerous debates and articles, but also in his novels. After Double Play came Afscheid van de koningen (Farewell to the Queen, 1975), Nobele wilden (Noble Savages, 1979), De laatste vrijheid (The Last Freedom, 1995), De deserteurs (The Deserters, 2006), and a collection of short stories titled De eeuwige hond (The Eternal Dog, 2001).

Double Play

Double Play

(De Bezige Bij, 1973, 365 pages)

Frank Martinus Arion’s debut novel Double Play (1973) was the first Antillean novel written from a black perspective. In all of his work, Arion reflects on the topics of racism and discrimination, the relationship between the community and the individual and the effects of colonialism on the world. In the end, equality is the only way forward.

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The Last Freedom

(De Bezige Bij, 1995, 363 pages)

Arion’s 1973 first novel, Dubbelspel (Double Play), was a great success in the Netherlands and is still seen as a significant contribution to Dutch-language literature. Now, after sixteen years of literary silence, Arion has finally published a new novel. ‘I’m not interested in just writing a beautiful story. I need to have a lot of stock in trade before I can do anything with it,’ he once said in an interview. The long wait has been productive: De laatste vrijheid (‘The Last Freedom’) is substantial and stimulating, its characters raise questions of ecological, interpersonal and intercontinental importance. Above all, it is another admirable literary achievement. Arion’s work…

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