More than 300 Dutch and Flemish books have been published in Germany last year. Especially younger authors claimed their place in the spotlight. Here are some of the books that have proven to be successful, both in terms of reviews and sales. We will be happy to discuss these or other new titles at the upcoming fair in Frankfurt.
Fiction
Connie Palmen
Jij zegt het
Du sagst es (Diogenes, 2016), transl. Hanni Ehlers
Tragic love story of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, as told by the latter in a fascinating, poetic monologue. Continue…
Rights sold: Denmark (Tiderne Skifter), France (Actes Sud), Kroatia (Nakjada Levak), Slovenia (Mondrijan), Egypt (General Egyptian Book Organisation)
Wytske Versteeg
Boy
(Wagenbach, 2016) transl. Christiane Burkhardt
Gripping novel about parenthood and adoption, bullying and revenge. Continue…
Rights sold: UK (HopeRoad), Denmark (Turbine), Turkey (Kahve Yayinlari)
Tommy Wieringa
Dit zijn de namen
Dies sind die Namen (Hanser, 2016), transl. Bettina Bach
A fascinating, dark novel about alienation and migration. Continue…
Rights sold: Egypt (Al Arabi), Bosnia (Buybook), Denmark (Tiderne Skifter), Germany (Hanser), UK (Scribe), USA (Melville House), France (Actes Sud), Hungary (Libri), Italy (Iperborea), Korea (Solbitkil), Macedonia (Antolog), Argentina (Edhasa), Sweden (Brombergs)
Arnon Grunberg
Moedervlekken
Muttermale (Kiepenheuer, 2016), transl. Andrea Kluitmann, Rainer Kersten
Razor-sharp absurdist novel about a son and his dying mother. Continue…
Rights sold: Germany (Kiepenheuer), Hungary (Gondolat), Czech Republic (Dybbuk)
Niña Weijers
De consequenties
Die Konzequenzen (Suhrkamp, 2016), transl. Helga van Beuningen
Brilliant coming-of-age debut novel set in the conceptual art world. Continue…
Rights sold: France (Actes Sud), Germany (Suhrkamp), USA (Doppel House Press), Macedonia (Antolog), Czech Republic (Kniha Zlin)
Children’s Books
Mies van Hout
Vriendjes, Verrassing, Vrolijk, Speeltuin
Her stricking and very recognisable picture books with bright colours on a black background (Spielplatz, Heute bin ich, Überraschung! , Freunde) enjoy an enormous succes on the German market, and have sold over 300.000 copies.
Rights sold: South Africa (Protea Boekhuis), Spain (Ttarttalo), China (Tomorrow Publishing House), Denmark (Turbine), Germany (Aracari), USA (Lemniscaat USA), France (Minedition)
Anna Woltz
Gips
Gips oder Wie ich an einem einzigen Tag die Welt reparierte (Carlsen, 2016), Transl. Andrea Kluitmann
An unconventional hospital adventure about the fundamental question of whether love should be just for now or forever. Continue here… and here
Nominated for the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis 2017
Rights sold: Germany (Carlsen), Slovenia (Miš Publishing)
This year a new title by Anna Woltz was published by Carlsen: Hundert Stunden Nacht.
A thrilling young-adult novel about Hurricane Sandy in New York and about a group of young people who overcome their fears Continue…
Jan Paul Schutten
Het wonder van jou en je biljoenen bewoners
Der Mensch (Gerstenberg, 2016), ill. Floor Rieder, transl. Verena Kiefer
Following the international succes of The Mystery of Life this second title by Jan Paul Schutten and Floor Rieder, The Marvel of You, examines the human body. It describes what a cell looks like on the inside, explains how to tell if someone is in love with you, why you get angry more quickly when it’s warm outside, and why chewing gum makes you smart, and much more!
Nominated for the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis 2017
Rights sold: Germany (Gerstenberg), France (Globe), Norway (Spartacus), Poland (Format), Rusia (Albus Corvus)
Simon van der Geest
Spinder
Krasshüpfer (Thienemann Verlag), ill. Karst-Janneke Rogaar, transl. Mirjam Pressler
In the secret cellar under the shed, Hidde, an insecure ten-year-old, has an ‘insect lab’ where he studies slugs, grasshoppers and stag beetles. Continue…
Nominated for the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis 2017
Rights sold: Denmark (Turbine), Germany (Thienemann-Esslinger), France (La Joie de Lire), Poland (Format)
Non-Fiction
Luuk van Middelaar
De passage naar Europa
Vom Kontinent zur Union (Suhrkamp, 2016), transl. Jacob Jansen
Luuk van Middelaar makes a highly original connection between the world of European power politics since 1500 and the Brussels institutions of our own day. Continue…
Rights sold: Egytp (Sphinx), Bulgaria (KX-Critique & Humanism), China (Orient Publishing Center), Germany (Suhrkamp), UK (Yale University Press), Estonia (Eesti Maailmavaate), France (Gallimard), Hungary (Typotex), Ukraine (Spirit & Letter), Poland (Aletheia), Brasil (Realizações Editora Espaço Cultural Livrario), Spain (Galaxia Gutenberg), Turkey (Türkiye Iş Bankası)
Geert Mak
De levens van Jan Six
Die vielen Leben des Jan Six (Siedler, 2016), transl. Gregor Seferens, Andreas Ecke
Compelling history of an Amsterdam dynasty, the Buddenbrooks of the Netherlands. Continue…
Rights sold: Germany (Siedler)
Douwe Draaisma
Als mijn geheugen me niet bedriegt
Halbe Wahrheiten (Galiani Berlin, 2016), transl. Verena Kiefer
How our memory plays tricks on us. Continue…
Rights sold: Germany (Galiani Berlin)
Frank Westerman
Een woord een woord
Reden. Reden? Reden! (Christoph Links, 2016), transl. Gerd Busse, Ulrich Faure
A personal, engaged and well-informed report about the impact of bellicose language, and about the psyche of terrorists. Continue…
Rights sold: Germany (Christopher Links), France (Christian Bourgois), Italy (Iperborea)
Klaartje de Zwarte-Walvisch
Alles ging aan flarden. Het oorlogsdagboek van Klaartje de Zwarte Walvisch.
Mein geheimes Tagebuch (C.H. Beck, 2016), transl. Simone Schroth
Rights sold: Germany (C.H. Beck), France (Notes de nuit), Italy (Ugo Guanda)
In 2009, the war-diary of Klaartje de Zwarte-Walvisch was published by Uitgeverij Balans. The diary of de Zwarte-Walvisch depicts the life of a Jewish woman, and what befell her after her arrest in March, 1943. She ended up in Sobibor, by way of the Hollandse Schouwburg, concentration camp Vught and passage camp Westerbork. In Sobibor she was murdered, on the date where her diary tragically ends: July 4th, 1943.