In the run-up to the Frankfurt Book Fair 2016, where the Netherlands and Flanders will be guest of honour, an impressive list of German translations is in preparation.
Although still a year away, the Frankfurt Book Fair 2016 is already bearing fruit for the Netherlands and Flanders, which will be joint guest of honour. German publishers are planning more translations of Dutch literature next year than ever before, with some 250 titles in all genres currently in preparation.
For publishers in Germany the choice of a country each year as guest of honour offers a chance to put the spotlight on a specific country or language area. Many have therefore decided to include one or more books translated from Dutch in their lists for next year. In 1993, when the Netherlands and Flanders were guest of honour in Frankfurt for the first time, our literature was discovered. Now it is the turn of new generations. Novels by authors including Wytske Versteeg, Mano Bouzamour, Joost de Vries, Niña Weijers, Murat Isik, Gustaaf Peek, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer and Ernest van der Kwast will be published in German translation and presented to the public.
Suhrkamp Verlag (Frankfurt) will be publishing work by A.F.Th. van der Heijden, Gerbrand Bakker and Cees Nooteboom, and a new translation of Nescio, to whom the literary magazine Schreibheft will devote a special issue. These Are The Names by Tommy Wieringa will be a major title for Hanser Verlag (Munich), along with Dyke by Hans Maarten van den Brink, still forthcoming in Dutch, and work by Margriet de Moor and Bibi Dumon Tak. Smaller publishers are joining in: Klaus Wagenbach (Berlin) is publishing no fewer than eight Dutch titles in a beautifully designed series, and Verbrecher Verlag is to publish two new volumes of The Bureau by J.J. Voskuil.
Poetry is also represented, with collections by Menno Wigman, Rozalie Hirs and Anneke Brassinga. As far as non-fiction is concerned, the sale of Reading with ALS by Pieter Steinz is particularly noteworthy, and a prestigious series of publications by Johan Huizinga is also in prospect. Dutch and Flemish children’s and young adult literature, always strongly represented on the German market, will grow next year by almost a hundred titles.
On the enclosed list you will find a selection of Dutch titles in preparation and here is a supplementary overview of the Flemish authors. The publication of these books will be accompanied by an extensive programme of readings and appearances, beginning March 2016 during LitCologne festival in Cologne.
The German language area is the most important export market for books written in Dutch. Since 1993, the last time that the Netherlands and Flanders were guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, around 2,800 titles have been translated into German from the Dutch. Furthermore the German market acts as a springboard for translations in many other language areas, both inside and outside Europe.
The vertalingendatabase.nl offers a continually updated overview of translations of Dutch-language titles, whether already published or in preparation.
For more information you can contact the Dutch Foundation for Literature, tel +31 20 520 73 00:
- Victor Schiferli, fiction specialist (German and English market), International services, mail: [email protected], tel +31 20 520 73 53
- Hanneke Marttin, communications, mail: [email protected], tel +31 20 520 73 16
About the foundation:
The Dutch Foundation For Literature has the task of supporting writers and translators, and of promoting Dutch literature abroad. It invests in the quality and diversity of literature through grants for writers, translators, publishers and festivals, and contributes to the production and distribution of Dutch and Frisian literature at home and abroad. With the support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, it aims to promote a thriving literary climate, embedded in literary history and attuned to the latest developments in the publishing industry.
http://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/
http://www.frankfurt2016.com/
