Great success for Madla de Bruin-Hüblová and her Czech translation Pole je tento svět of the Dutch novel The field by Dola de Jong. The novel is nominated for the Magnesia Litera Prize, together with work by Irish author Sara Baume, Tunesian writer Hédi Kaddou, and their translators. The classic The Field was rediscovered in 2015 by Amsterdam based publishing house Cossee, and will or has been translated into nine languages, including English, German, French and Swedish.
En de akker is de wereld (The Field) is about a Dutch couple fleeing for the Nazi’s short before the start of World War 2. Wandering through Europe they start to shelter oprhaned childeren from various natialities which they bring along on their journey. Eventually they end up in Tangier where they try to survive build up a new life by cultivating a piece of land. Nevertheless Tangier is full of Nazi spies looking for Jewish refugees.
As a young women in her late twenties, Dola de Jong (1911-2003) fled from the war. She settled in Tangier, where she opened a dance studio and worked as a teacher. Later, she moved to the United States.
Madla de Bruin-Hüblová translated work of many Dutch writers, such as Cees Nooteboom, Guus Kuijer, Grunberg, Hermans en Westerman. Her Czech translation of Het boek van alle dingen from Guus Kuijer was awarded the Annual Price for Best Translation of publisher Albatros.
The Magnesia Litera Prize will be awarded on April 4th at 20.00. The prize ceremony may be followed live here and will include interviews with the nominees and short animations made by producer Maria Procházková.
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