Simon van der Geest
Yellow Grass
Why should a foreign publisher have your book translated?
Simon: Yellow Grass is a wonderful story about a girl called Fieke, who has a lot of courage and loads of imagination. One day she unzips her tent at a French campsite and finds that her parents have left without her. Together with the runaway Jantwan, she comes up with a plan to fi nd them. People have told me that it’s a fantastic read. One girl said she was laughing so much she fell out of bed… I want children all over the world to have that same pleasure!
Which language would you most like to be translated into?
It’s great that Yellow Grass is already being published in German! Other than
that, I think it would be fantastic to be translated into English. The British have such a rich literary tradition. I can imagine that the slightly absurd tone of Yellow Grass would go down well there. And it’s about a holiday in France, which the British know something about. I think a Norwegian translation would be very nice too. The Norwegians I know have a great sense
of humour. And I think it’s a wonderful language. A language with beautiful silences. A language that lends itself well to telling lots between the lines.
Which internationally renowned author do you admire?
David Almond. The way he creates so much tension with his wonderful, pure style… He draws you into his world with his rhythmic sentences. It’s so clever the way he makes his world so realistic and easy to identify with, but at the same time so magical.
