Henk van Straten

Henk van Straten (b. 1980) is an author, columnist and journalist. He previously wrote the novel Bidden en vallen (Praying and Falling, 2015) and two memoirs: Wij zeggen hier niet halfbroer (We Don’t Say Half-Brother Here, which won the 2018 Best Book for Young People award) and Berichten uit het tussenhuisje (Notes from the Halfway House). In 2020 his thriller novella Kwaad bloed (Bad Blood) was published to critical acclaim. Along with Ernest Hemingway Is Cancelled, it makes up part of a thematic trilogy about the ‘real or imagined fall of the man’, as Van Straten himself puts it. His work has been nominated for numerous prestigious literary awards.

Alle vissen vonden olifant

(Moon, 2010, 93 pagina's)

One day, an elephant appears in the sea, just bobbing along. None of the sea creatures know where it’s come from or even whether it really is an elephant. ‘Elephants don’t exist,’ says one. ‘Yes, they do,’ says another, ‘but they don’t swim. They fly.’ Another one claims that elephant is what you get behind your fins when you don’t scrub properly.

Ernest Hemingway is gecanceld

(Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 2020, 288 pagina's)

It’s difficult for some people in this day and age to do the right thing and not keep hurting others, even if that wasn’t their intention. Van Straten ventures into a minefield from which no one escapes unscathed. A powerful novel about masculinity, fatherhood and depression, but also about current hot-button issues such as #MeToo, gender, racism and social prejudice.