Quality Non-Fiction from Holland - Autumn 2018 - Nederlands ...
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Quality
Non-Fiction
from Holland
N ederlands
letterenfonds
dutch foundation
for literature Autumn 2018
2 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Dutch Foundation for Literature
The Dutch Foundation for Literature has the Writers-in-Residence Dutch Foundation
task of supporting writers and translators, The Foundation coordinates writer-in-residence for Literature
and of promoting Dutch literature abroad. programmes together with foreign universities Nieuwe Prinsengracht 89
NL – 1018 VR Amsterdam
It is an independent organization, supported and institutions. International authors are invited
t +31 20 520 73 00
by the Ministry of Education, Culture and to spend time working in Amsterdam. They may post@letterenfonds.nl
Science. stay one or two months at the writers’ lodgings www.letterenfonds.nl
above the Athenaeum Bookshop on the Spui
The Foundation’s advisors on literary fiction, (in co-operation with the Amsterdam Fund for Non-Fiction
quality non-fiction, poetry and children’s and the Arts).
youth literature are present each year at
prominent book fairs, including Frankfurt, International Visitors Programme
London, Beijing and Bologna. Books from The visitors programme and the annual
Holland, Quality Non-Fiction from Holland and Amsterdam Fellowships offer publishers and
Children’s Books from Holland recommend editors the opportunity to acquaint themselves
highlights from each category’s selection. with the publishing business and the literary
infrastructure of the Netherlands. Mireille Berman
Translation Grants m.berman@letterenfonds.nl
Foreign publishers wishing to publish a transla- Translators’ House
Fiction
tion of Dutch or Frisian literature may apply for The Translators’ House offers translators the
Barbara den Ouden
a subsidy towards the translation costs. Having opportunity to live and work in Amsterdam for Eastern and Middle Europe,
acquired the rights, the publisher’s application a period of time. It is involved with numerous Mediterranean countries, Russia
must be accompanied by a copy of the contract activities assisting and advancing translators’ b.den.ouden@letterenfonds.nl
with the rights owner and a copy of the contract skills. Each year the Literary Translation Days are
Victor Schiferli
with the translator. Application forms are held for those translating into and from Dutch.
Scandinavia, Germany,
available from the Foundation’s website. English-language countries
Subsidies are paid after receipt of complimen- Schwob: Discovering International Classic and poetry
tary copies, with printed acknowledgement of Works of Fiction v.schiferli@letterenfonds.nl
the Foundation’s support. A sample translation Schwob draws attention to and supports as-yet
Tiziano Perez
may be required and evaluated by our external undiscovered, untranslated classics of world
Brazil, China
advisors. Applications for translations that have literature. Each month the editors select new t.perez@letterenfonds.nl
already been published cannot be taken into titles on www.schwob.nl.
consideration. Publishers looking for a qualified Alexandra Koch
translator can request a list of endorsed Schwob
a.koch@letterenfonds.nl
translators for their language area.
Children’s Books
Illustrated Books Agnes Vogt
In the case of illustrated children’s books and/or a.vogt@letterenfonds.nl
graphic novels, foreign publishers can apply for
See also
assistance to cover a portion of the production
en.letterenfonds.nl
costs.
Promotional Travel
The Foundation is able to support a publisher
wishing to invite an author for interviews or
public appearances. Literary festivals are
likewise eligible for support. Additionally, the
Foundation organises international literary
events in co-operation with local publishers,
festivals and book fairs.
3 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Frank Westerman
We, Hominids
An exploration of what makes us human
In We, Hominids, one of Holland’s leading Darwinists, subtly dissecting the scientific Frank Westerman (b. 1964),
narrative non-fiction writers hunts down premises that have underpinned their acclaimed Dutch non-fiction writer,
is the author of major bestsellers
answers to anthropology’s most funda- theories. Illustrious anthropologists are
as The Republic of Grain (1999),
mental questions: Who are we? What examined in all their greed and ambition, Engineers of the Soul (2002),
makes us different from animals? Using their bad luck, good luck and jealousy. El Negro and Me (2004), Ararat
an ancient skull as ingress, traversing the Westerman is stunned by the multiplicity (2007), Brother Mendel’s Perfect
globe, excavating the history of human- of origin hypotheses, examines the Horse (2010), Choke Valley (2013)
and A Word A Word. His work,
kind and holding up evidence to the light, influence of new DNA technology, and
which has received numerous
this investigation is a compelling mixture the rise of female scientists, who have awards, has been translated into
of reportage, travelogue and essay. broken through a macho culture. sixteen languages.
Building on earlier works, Ararat,
Westerman takes the reader, and sixteen Engineers of the Soul and Brother Mendel’s Publishing details
Wij, de mens (2018)
reportage students from Leiden University, Perfect Horse, Westerman deepens his
288 pp.
on a roving philosophical field trip. search for the pivotal moment when English sample available
Setting out from the convent village of dreams turn into nightmares. When does
Steyl, home of the pink-clad Sisters of remembering become forgetting? Which Rights
Holy Spirit Adoration, our guide leads us graves do we want to investigate and Querido Fosfor
Frank Westerman
into the marl caves along the river Maas which would we rather leave undisturbed?
frankwesterman@icloud.com
before taking us further afield, to Liang The search for the first human also
Bua, a limestone cave on the Indonesian picks at the dividing line between normal- Photo: Lionne Hietberg
island of Flores. Here, the first skeleton cy and anomaly. Any description of who
of the tiny Homo floresiensis, one of the we are and where we come from is col-
book’s central objects of curiosity, was oured by the zeitgeist. The constantly
discovered in 2003. changing theories of human evolution
Drawing parallels between the geo- show that we are doomed to continuously
graphical sites, and delving into the review what we think we know. Still,
pioneer years of (paleo)anthropology, Westerman emphasises the importance of
Westerman describes the search for the hard facts: ‘The facts cling to me and I cling
first human being — the missing link, to the facts. I will continue to pick them up,
man-ape or ape-man. He drinks in the turn them around and illuminate them
world of skull hunters, leading experts with the headlamp of my imagination.’
of our fossil ancestry and hardcore
On his earlier works:
‘Frank Westerman is Ryszard
Kapuscinski’s most important heir.’
– Goffreddo Fofi, Internazionale
‘Frank Westerman has a golden pen, a vividly
historical imagination and a powerful motto:
“to stop telling stories would be to the
world’s detriment.”’
– NRC Handelsblad
‘The name Frank Westerman is synonymous
with a new way of writing literature.’
– Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
4 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Selma Leydesdorff
Sasha Pechersky
Holocaust hero, Sobibor resistance leader,
and hostage of history
An extraordinary biography of a forgotten hero
On 14th October 1943, Aleksandr ‘Sasha’ Based on eyewitness accounts from people Selma Leydesdorff (b. 1949) is
Pechersky led a mass escape from in Pechersky’s life, the story is a discussion an historian and emeritus professor
at the University of Amsterdam.
Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in Poland. of the mechanism of memory, mixing
She is internationally recognised
Despite his role in one of the few pris- written sources with varied recollections as a prominent researcher in the
oner revolts at a World War II death and assessing the collisions between the field of oral history. Previous titles
camp, Pechersky never received the collective memories held by the East and include We Lived With Dignity:
public recognition he deserved in his the West. Specifically, the book critiques Amsterdam’s Jewish proletariat from
1900 –1940 and Water and Memory
home country of Russia. In her book, the ideological refusal by many societies
— on the victims of the 1953 flood in
Selma Leydesdorff describes the official to acknowledge the horrors suffered by the Netherlands. The year 2008 saw
silence in the Eastern Bloc about the Jews at Sobibor. the publication of Surviving The
Pechersky’s role in the Sobibor revolt. This story of a forgotten hero also reveals Bosnian Genocide: A history of
the tremendous difference in memorial the women of Srebrenica — an oral
history based on more than fifty
Pechersky (1909 – 1990) was a Russian Jew cultures between the West and the former
interviews.
and Red Army lieutenant who arrived in Communist world. Leydesdorff, a profes-
Sobibor as the commander of a group of sor of oral history, offers an important Publishing details
eighty Russian prisoners. The Germans insight into a crucial period, emphasizing Sasha Pechersky. De Russische
kept them alive because they needed their that Jews were not passive in the face of soldaat die de opstand van Sobibor
leidde (2018)
workforce in order to build a new part of German violence, and explores the story
352 pp.
the camp. But they seriously underesti- of those Jews who fell victim to Stalinism Complete English translation
mated the physical and mental strength of after surviving Nazism. available
the group. Pechersky organized the revolt Leydesdorff writes on Sasha Pechersky: Publisher: Prometheus
in just twenty-two days with the help of an ‘After the war, he was initially considered
Rights
already existing Polish underground a traitor. He then fell victim to the rise of
Taylor & Francis Group
network and his Russian comrades. Stalinist anti-Semitism. Now people in Adele Parker
Pechersky, along with other Russian and Moscow and Israel are lobbying for his adele.parker@tandf.co.uk
Jewish inmates who had been interned by recognition. I am glad that my research is Rights sold: Routledge
the Nazis, was later considered suspect helping to break through the consciously
by the Russian government simply political silence about him, as Pechersky Photo: Doret van der Sloot
because he had been imprisoned. is a Jewish hero to me.’
‘It has taken a long time for Sasha Pechersky, the
unsung hero of the 1943 revolt in the Sobibor death
camp, to find the right voice to tell his story. Selma
Leydesdorff ’s sad and tragic tale describes the evil
he overcame and the injustice that defeated him
“in a world that remained dark.” Her love of truth
and her passion for history, compelled by her own
family’s loss years ago, highlights the quick success
and slow demise of this Russian Jew’s remarkable
courage and idealism.’
– Robert Skloot, University of Wisconsin-Madison
5 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Olivier van Beemen
Beer in Africa
A multinational unleashed
How one of the world’s biggest companies
operates in the developing world
For Heineken, ‘rising Africa’ doesn’t competition from indigenous beer brewing, Olivier van Beemen (b. 1979) is an
just represent a promising future. The which it tried to crush. He shows how investigative journalist specialising
in Africa. Beer in Africa is the result
continent has proved highly lucrative Heineken collaborates with dictators,
of five years of research, not only in
for decades, with profits almost 50 per authoritarian governments and a convicted the twelve African countries where
cent higher than the global average. war criminal; how it’s using a mysterious Heineken has its own breweries
In some African countries beer costs Belgian operating company to avoid tax; and joint ventures, but also in the
more than it does in Europe. According and how the company is linked to human company’s archives and literature.
The author spoke to 300 sources
to the Dutch brewer, this is not only good rights violations and high-level corruption.
within and around the company.
news for shareholders, but also for the Beer in Africa is a critical case study The Dutch edition of his book was
economic development of the countries about the business practices of the Dutch nominated for the Lira Scherpenzeel
in Africa where it operates. But should brewer in Africa. The revelations in the Prize for ‘ground-breaking interna-
we believe them? book have led to parliamentary questions tional journalism’ and is now in its
fifth edition.
being asked in both the Dutch and the
After three years of research and hundreds European Parliament, as well as a docu- Publishing details
of interviews, Olivier van Beemen con- mentary on Dutch television. Leading Bier voor Afrika. Het best bewaarde
cludes that Heineken’s presence has hardly commentators have written columns geheim van Heineken (2018)
benefited the continent at all, and may in about it and the book made headlines in 224 pp.
Complete English and French
fact be rather harmful. He tells the story the Netherlands, Belgium, France and
translations available
of how Heineken faced considerable Burundi. 7,000 copies sold
Rights
Prometheus
Ronit Palache
r.palache@pbo.nl
Rights sold: Hurst Publishers (UK),
Rue de l’Échiquier (France)
Photo: Maria van Rooijen
‘Olivier van Beemen was like a
gadfly to Heineken in Africa.
The investigative journalist was so
bothersome the company simply
decided to open up to him.’
– de Volkskrant
‘Chapter after chapter, he opens
up a cesspool of corruption, sex
and relationships with dubious,
murderous regimes. In so doing
he dismantles the reputation of
ethical conduct that Heineken
likes to convey.’
– Algemeen Dagblad
6 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Mineke Schipper
Hills of Paradise
A history of power and weakness
Femininity as a source of power and mortal fear
The female body has been admired, used Schipper’s gaze is far from Eurocentric. Mineke Schipper (b. 1938) is
and abused since time immemorial. She travels all over the world and through Emeritus professor of Intercultural
Literature Studies at the University
Despite the symbiotic relationship antiquity, telling stories about blood,
of Leiden and the author of several
between the sexes, men have always sexuality, breastfeeding, pregnancy, birth academic books, essays and novels,
ended up with more power than women and breasts from very different cultures. including Imagining Insiders: Africa
and the female anatomy seems to lie at She draws from ancient Mesopotamia, and the Question of Belonging
the root of this inequality. We can find Japanese myths, Greek mythology, stories (1999). Her book on proverbs about
women Never Marry a Woman with
clues in art and literature; male narra- from the Chaco Indians, the Jewish
Big Feet (2004) was translated
tors, artists and scholars have shown an Talmud, the Vikings, the Xhosa, and the worldwide and won the Eureka
eternal fascination for those body parts Ming Dynasty. Schipper explores male Prize. She has also published three
they lack: breasts, wombs and vulvas. Yet anxieties such as the fear of magic nipples, novels and was awarded a Dutch
this fascination is often far from healthy. hymens and menstrual blood; the fear of Knighthood. Her most recent title
is Naked or Covered: A History of
dark passages, into which that most
Dressing and Undressing Around
All over the world, throughout history and vulnerable of male parts must heroically the World.
in many different cultures, men have had seek its way; the fear of dependency on
mixed feelings about the female body. mothers and other women. To calm these Publishing details
Delight has gone hand in hand with fears, different mythologies have conjured Heuvels van het paradijs.
Een geschiedenis van macht
insecurity, comfort with fear, and power men up as creators not only of the world
en onmacht (2018)
with feelings of impotence. Contradic- but also of human life, and women have 293 pp.
tions abound: the vagina is ‘sweet as beer’, been denied access to public spheres English sample translation available
the Inuit have a legend about breasts ‘pour- because of their ‘distracting’ anatomy. Publisher: Prometheus
ing with fish’ and much of mythology is This revealing and sometimes hilarious
Rights
permeated with threats and fear, vaginas account offers not only clear insights into
The Susijn Agency
with teeth and snakes in women’s abdo- the world before #metoo, but also into the Laura Susijn
mens. Violence against women is peren- way we, consciously or unconsciously, still info@thesusijnagency.com
nial and arises, the author suggests, when interact with each other today. This is a
male fear turns into aggression, anchored rich book, peppered with anecdotes; it is Photo: Rosa Verhoeve
in the belief that the world will turn to erudite, accessible and outspoken, written
chaos without male intervention. by a compassionate humanist.
MINEKE SCHIPPER
SCHIPPER
MINEKE
On Naked or Covered:
Heuvels van het paradijs
‘The question of which parts of the human body
are to be covered and which may be left bare is
as much of a battlefield today as it has ever been.
Mineke Schipper provides a fascinating and
wide-ranging compendium of fact and fiction
about the covering of the body through the ages.’
Heuvels van – J.M. Coetzee
het paradijs On Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet:
EEN GESCHIEDENIS VAN
‘Schipper’s prose is light, fast-paced and witty,
and her analysis of what lies behind the proverbs
MACHT EN ONMACHT
is completely gripping.’
– Sunday Telegraph
7 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Henkjan Honing
Darwin’s Assumption
In search of the origins of musicality
in humans and animals
The search for musicality in animals
Humans are musical creatures. Of all of his search for answers. Beginning in Henkjan Honing (b. 1959) is a
of the cultures we know existed there 2009, we follow him to research labs in professor of Musical Cognition at
the University of Amsterdam. He is
has never been one without music, and Mexico, Japan, the United States and the
known as a passionate researcher
yet we understand surprisingly little Netherlands, as he meets and collaborates within this new interdisciplinary field,
about where this affinity comes from and with behavioural and neuro-biologists. which offers fundamental insights
what purpose it serves. Does music make Aside from a behind-the-scenes look at into the cognitive mechanisms
us human, or are there other musical the realities of scientific research, we share underlying musicality. Having
become fascinated in recent years
species as well? in Honing’s doubts, his successes and
with music’s biological basis, he
setbacks, as well as the surprising turns in began collaborating with neuro
Henkjan Honing is convinced that we his research. He details studies with biologists, neuroscientists and
are not alone—that musicality has a long macaque monkeys, zebra finches and behavioural biologists. Among the
evolutionary history and should be found chimpanzees. We also witness the startling other titles he’s written, Musical
Cognition was published in 2012.
in our near, if not distant, relatives. And implications introduced by Snowball, the
he is not the only one: writing in 1871, now world-famous cockatoo that bobs to Publishing details
Charles Darwin hypothesised that ‘the the Backstreet Boys, and Ronan, a Cali Aap slaat maat. Op zoek naar
perception, if not enjoyment, of musical fornian sea lion who loves the band Earth, de oorsprong van muzikaliteit
cadences and of rhythm is probably Wind & Fire. bij mens en dier (2018)
208 pp.
common to all animals and no doubt The journey is as exciting as it is fasci-
Complete English translation
depends on the common physiological nating, and Honing paints his and his available
nature of their nervous systems.’ Accord- colleagues ground-breaking work in an
ing to Honing, in order to experience emerging field. In the process he shines Rights
music as such, animals must be able to a light on many questions: How do these Nieuw Amsterdam
Marije Braat
perceive beats and recognise melodies. animals perceive music? Does music
mbraat@nieuwamsterdam.nl
These two abilities make up ‘musicality’. precede language or is it a byproduct, along English rights sold (MIT Press,
If we share musicality with other animals, with language, of our musicality? More expected February 2019)
what can this tell us about where it comes than just a cultural luxury, can music and
from and about ourselves as a species? our ability to process music be a funda- Photo: Eduard Lampe
Writing in a style that is accessible and mental part of our biological heritage?
charming, Honing offers a personal account
On Musical Cognition:
‘The definitive story of how listening
to music works in detail.’
– de Volkskrant
‘This is the book I’ve been waiting to read.
I devoured it. Easy enough to follow for the
layperson, and full of useful findings for the
specialist. It is beautifully written by one of
the true world experts in our field. A triumph,
and a book that deserved to be read and
cited for many years to come.’
– Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your
Brain on Music
8 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Jan Brokken
The Just
How a Dutch consul saved thousands of Jews
A story of courage and difficult decisions made in the nick of time
At the beginning of the Second World Russia to Vladivostok, to Japan, and Jan Brokken (b. 1949) has, in a
War, the Dutch consul in Lithuania found then on to freedom. Part rescue story, literary career spanning thirty years,
written books about a number of
a way to save the lives of thousands of part moving portrait of a close-knit family
exotic and far-off places, including
Jewish people who had fled Poland, by under very difficult circumstances, The Just West Africa, the Dutch Caribbean,
giving them visas for the Dutch island offers a vivid picture of Eastern Europe Indonesia and China, winning acclaim
of Curaçao in the Caribbean. Visas in during the war and traces the life-stories of for his adventurous attitude and
hand, the refugees were able to take the the rescued Jews, many of whom Brokken sensitive style. He gained inter
national fame with The Rainbird,
Trans-Siberian railway to Japan and then was able to find and speak with. In 1997,
The Blind Passengers, My Little
disperse to all four corners of the globe. Zwartendijk was posthumously bestowed Madness, Baltic Souls, In the House
The vast majority of them survived the Yad Vashem honorary title ‘Righteous of the Poet, The Reprisal and The
the war. Among Nations’ for his large-scale rescue Cossack Garden. He is renowned
mission. A monument was unveiled in as a masterful storyteller. The New
York Times praised his book Jungle
Jan Brokken has wrested from oblivion Kaunas in the summer of 2018.
Rudy (trs. Sam Garrett) on Rudy
the heroic story of Rotterdammer Jan Jan Brokken has an impressive oeuvre Truffino, who mapped the Venezuelan
Zwartendijk (1896 – 1976), a director of to his name of well-documented, narrative jungle, as ‘a masterpiece of narrative
Philips who suddenly found himself non-fiction books, which read as novels. non-fiction’.
honorary consul in Kaunas. At the time In all his works, he examines what makes
Publishing details
this was the capital of Lithuania and it some people behave in a cowardly fashion,
De rechtvaardigen. Hoe een
was on the point of being annexed by while others demonstrate unexpected Nederlandse consul duizenden
the Soviets. A cross between fellow courage and determination. joden redde (October 2018)
businessman Oskar Schindler and the In The Just, Brokken’s personal fascina- 450 pp.
diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, Zwartendijk tion for making the right choice at the right English sample translation available
seized a precious window of just ten days time is evident. He writes, ‘In a fraction of
Rights
to feverishly write out thousands of visas a second you have to decide. How do you Atlas Contact
and thereby rescue as many Jews as he react? I wouldn’t know, myself, and maybe Hayo Deinum
could from the Holocaust. Together with that’s what made me burrow into this hdeinum@atlascontact.nl
the Dutch Ambassador in Riga and the history like a mole.’ Once again, his book
Photo: Jelmer de Haas
consul for Japan, an unlikely ally, he provides a lesson in courage.
enabled these refugees to cross Soviet
On The Reprisal:
‘History is rarely black or white; it is
usually grey. And Brokken exposes
this grey area in a masterful and very
balanced way.’
– Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
‘In Jan Brokken’s hands, the combi
nation of research, imagination,
observation and involvement always
turns to gold. When it comes to
narrative non-fiction, he is one of the
best writers in the Dutch language.’
– De Scriptor
9 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Henk Blanken
It Won’t Kill You
A search for the boundaries of my shrinking world
A razor-sharp depiction of a man in decline
Henk Blanken is fifty-one years old of those around him, with memories of Henk Blanken (b. 1959) is a
when he notices that something’s wrong. his parents, his son and from his child- journalist and writer. He has worked
for various newspapers and maga
He starts stumbling over uneven tiles, hood. He reflects on friendship, loyalty
zines, written books on the journa
drooling, shaking; his muscles regularly and what it means to say goodbye to a list’s trade and won numerous prizes
seize up. The diagnosis is Parkinson’s fast-paced working life. All the while, for his work. At present, he mainly
disease. When his doctor tells him, ‘It Blanken’s style dazzles. Dubbed a ‘non- writes about the dilemmas surround-
won’t kill you,’ Blanken wants to add: fiction novel’ by the press, the book is rich ing euthanasia and dementia. His
piece ‘My death is not my own: the
‘But it won’t end well.’ This book is the with beautiful dialogues. Faced with all
legal limits of euthanasia’ appeared
account of his progressive deterioration that unbearable loss he writes: ‘You get as a long read in The Guardian.
as well as a personal exploration of the used to it, but getting used to it simply Regarding the success of It Won’t
paradoxes and dilemmas that surround means waiting for the decline.’ Kill You, which met with critical
euthanasia. His condition leads him to the question acclaim in both the Netherlands and
Germany, he said: ‘That something
of euthanasia and the dilemmas that
good has come out of this deteriora-
Thanks to modern medication we now surround it. Expanding on the arguments tion, makes up for a lot.’
live in an age in which serious diseases he addressed in his article in The Guardian
are more often chronic than deadly. this summer, Blanken asks: How can you Publishing details
Many patients face a slow though inevita- avoid an end you do not want? Can you Je gaat er niet dood aan. Zoektocht
naar de grenzen van mijn aftakeling
ble decline. A journalist and storyteller at even choose your own end, and how do
(2018)
heart, Blanken can’t help thinking, ‘Well it you do that when you have not finished 256 pp.
is a good story’ when he gets his diagnosis. living yet? English sample translation available,
Ultimately, the writing process helps him More than a story of living with the German translation available
deal with his disease: as long as he can disease, this book is an orbiting search,
Rights
write about it, he thinks he’ll manage. a first-hand account and moving meditation
Atlas Contact
In what follows, Blanken details the on losing and forgetting, on the fragile and Hayo Deinum
frontiers, the uncharted depths that he is ephemeral quality of human experience hdeinum@atlascontact.nl
forced to enter and the decisions he must and, as such, a confronting examination
make. He interweaves his attempts to of our relationship with death today. Rights sold
Germany, Patmos Verlag
understand his condition, and the reactions
Photo: Linelle Deunk
‘Henk Blanken leads the reader through
his story, visually, associatively, in
breath-taking scenes.’
– de Volkskrant
‘Blanken records his day-to-day life
with precise brilliance. His analysis
of his future is matter-of-fact: a needle
in his brain.’
– Plädoyer
10 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Beatrice de Graaf
The Balancers
How Europe waged peace after 1815
The first collective European war against terror
In The Balancers, Beatrice de Graaf Equally, the Council heralded the birth Beatrice de Graaf (b. 1976) is a
rewrites the history of international of a new European order, one that was professor of History of International
Relations and Global Governance at
security and counter-terrorism in Europe hierarchical and elitist, and underpinned
Utrecht University. She researches
by shining a new light on the Allied by its own economic interests. In the name the history of terrorism, war and
Council (1815 – 1818), a forgotten, though of peace, it employed an imperialist violence and is particularly inter-
revolutionary, political experiment. Using surveillance network of spies in an attempt ested in the fight against them.
jointly-occupied France as their Petri dish, to crush all phantoms of rebellion. How She was a fellow at Cambridge
University, regularly makes public
this small committee of ministers and did the growing resentment under this
appearances as an expert on
ambassadors developed the first Europe- enlightened occupation manifest itself? terrorism and has published, among
wide security framework, designed to What happened when Europe began other titles, Dangerous Women,
prevent the horrors of second revolution exporting these new ideals and security Theatre of Fear and Terrorists On
and the rise of another Napoleon. techniques to their growing colonies, Trial. In 2018 her oeuvre received
the highest scientific distinction in
and beyond?
the Netherlands: the Stevin Award.
It was a system founded, in their eyes, on Using newly discovered archival
justice and reason, one that incorporated material and drawing from first-hand Publishing details
the modern ideas on government, power accounts, De Graaf brings this decisive Tegen de terreur.
and rights. As an innovative collaboration, chapter to life in all its rich detail, recon- Hoe Europa veilig werd na Napoleon
448 pp.
it would ultimately plant the seeds for the structing the story through the people who
English sample translation available
European Union today, but at what cost to drove it: the leaders and statesmen like
its own citizens, and to the rest of the world? Wellington, Metternich, Tsar Alexander, Rights
The Allied Council transformed Richelieu and those around them, as well English world rights: Beatrice
Europe, introducing uniform laws and as the many bureaucrats, deputies, offic- de Graaf, via b.a.degraaf@uu.nl
All other rights: Prometheus
regulations, standardising passports and ers, diplomats, experts, managers, bankers
Ronit Palache
improving infrastructure, effectively and lawyers who served them, each with r.palache@pbo.nl
ushering in a time in which Europeans their own interests. This is a timely and
could travel and trade, easily and safely. essential history, one in which we are asked Photo: David van Dam
After 25 exhausting years of war and to inhabit the intellectual and emotional
chaos, Europeans could finally enjoy the universe of the time, to approach this brief
peace they craved, as semaphores quickly episode in all its nuances, in all its contra-
relayed descriptions of ‘terrorists’ and dictions, and to recognise its far-reaching
‘assassins’ across borders that were now global consequences, then and today.
jointly secured.
On Dangerous Women:
‘The great thing about these portraits
is that they’re all worthwhile, carefully
documented and averse to clichés or
pre-established stances.’
– de Volkskrant11 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Eva Meijer
The Limits of My Language
A short philosophical enquiry into depression
A probing and lucid look at the nature of depression
Much has been written about the therapy and being admitted to a clinic. An Eva Meijer (b. 1980) is an author,
treatment of depression, less about its important part of her story is discovering philosopher and singer-songwriter.
She went on to study animal
meaning. Depression is more than just a sources of comfort. Merleau-Ponty argued
communication, publishing her
problem of brain chemistry, the questions that thinking is embodied, that the body findings in Animal Languages, which
posed by the depressed person are funda- is made up of everything you experience. was translated into nine languages.
mental. In The Limits of My Language, This creates difficulties, but it also provides Rights to her novel The Bird Cottage
author and philosopher Eva Meijer uses opportunities. Meijer finds some solutions were sold in seven different territo
ries and it was awarded the BNG
her own experiences as raw material to in the body: movement helps, especially
Bank Literature Prize. For her
map the phenomenon. Calling on philo walking, because it makes you realise that doctoral thesis in philosophy,
sophers like Wittgenstein, Derrida and you occupy a place in the world, thereby Political Animal Voices, Meijer
Foucault, she delves into what they each helping to restore a connection. received the Praemium Erasmianum
have to say about communication, Though Meijer is not opposed to anti Dissertation Prize.
loneliness and insanity. depressants, they do not offer a complete
Publishing details
solution. Pills can eliminate a kind of De grenzen van mijn taal.
Language shapes us and sometimes we can paralysis, which is useful, but depression Een klein filosofisch onderzoek
re-shape ourselves through conversation endured has value. You can learn to put it naar depressie (January 2019)
with others. Meijer describes depression in perspective (it passes) and to ‘live around 144 pp.
English sample translation available
beautifully as a condition in which one’s it’. Art can be employed as a weapon against
relationship with the world and with meaninglessness. Comfort can be found in Rights
oneself disappears, the connection is lost. silence, cats and winter trees. Ultimately, Uitgeverij Cossee
If there is no connection, conversation The Limits of My Language is a quest for Stella Rieck
becomes useless. Time falls away too: what gives meaning to our lives. Meijer rieck@cossee.com
in a depression, the sufferer is cut off does not offer a panacea, but a very realistic
Photo: Bob Bronshof f
from present, past and future. view of the problem.
People with recurrent depression grow This is Eva Meijer at her best: the poetic
like crooked trees but their brains do not power of her novels is combined with the
change their souls, argues Meijer. Her analytical acuity of her non-fiction work.
essay examines the truth about adolescents Her argument is sensitive, investigative,
and existentialists, and the ideation of informative and provides insights into what
suicide. She discusses the usefulness of it actually feels like to endure a depression.
On The Soldier was a Dolphin:
‘A brave, original, ground-breaking and
exceptionally well-written and accessible essay.’
– Trouw
On Political Animal Voices:
‘This dissertation is highly original, internatio
nally significant and well written. The book goes
beyond a case by reframing habitual language
in a way that will appeal to non-specialists.
The book shows the daring and flair of its writer.
It tickles us, bites and barks at us, and there is an
exceptional balance between the creative and
the analytical.’
– The Research Prize Jury Report12 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Stefan Buijsman
Pluses and Minuses
Mathematics and the world around us
How mathematics allows us to better understand the world
Whether we know it or not, the omni- numbers for city administration, how Stefan Buijsman (b. 1995)
present technologies in our daily lives the Greeks invented geometry and the graduated with a master’s degree
in philosophy from the University
are all based on mathematics. Be it traffic Chinese were calculating calendars in
of Leiden at 18 years of age, after
lights, Google’s search engine, movie 1000 BC. He paints the 17th-century public which he left for Sweden to pursue
suggestions on Netflix, the espresso controversy between Isaac Newton and a Ph.D. He completed the four-year
machine at your local cafe or the cruise Gottfried Leibnitz over who first invented doctorate program within a year
control in your car — they all function the integral, which, along with differential and a half, making him one of the
youngest Ph.D.s ever. At present,
using the mathematics we’re taught at equations, remains an essential building
he is studying the philosophy of
school. block of modern life. He sketches the mathematics as a post-doctoral
mathematical discoveries that radically researcher. Together with Govrien
If we consider that the Mesopotamians changed the world, as well as their some- Oldenburger, he wrote the children’s
were the first to use numbers when times unlikely inspirations. We learn how book The Counting Kingdom.
counting supplies with clay tokens, how probability and statistics help us manage
Publishing details
did something that began so practical turn uncertainty, how graph theory now Plussen en minnen. Wiskunde
into something we now often think of as underlies everything from Facebook being en de wereld om ons heen (2018)
frighteningly abstract? More importantly, able to predict your future friendships to 208 pp.
in a world becoming increasingly com- gauging the effectiveness of cancer English sample translation available
plex, why is understanding the basics treatments in hospitals.
Rights
more important than ever? Buijsman also identifies some of De Bezige Bij
Pluses and Minuses is a book for those mathematics' shortcomings, and its abuses. Marijke Nagtegaal
who are scared of mathematics. In it, In doing so, he makes a passionate case for m.nagtegaal@debezigebij.nl
Stefan Buijsman, a 21-year-old philoso- understanding its most simple concepts as Uta Matten
u.matten@debezigebij.nl
pher of mathematics, demystifies the a means of arming ourselves. Bombarded
world of numbers, offering a concise and with statistics and polls, we can better Photo: Anna-Karin Landin
delightfully readable history and demon- gauge their merit if we know how they
strating its close connection with the have been calculated. We can make
necessities of our daily lives. By identify- informed decisions on questions like
ing simple structures in an otherwise artificial intelligence and online privacy,
overwhelming complexity, mathematics and understand how fake news and social
has helped us make sense of the world for media work. Like maths, Buijsman
thousands of years. Starting with maths’ provides us the tools to simplify these
humble origins in Mesopotamia, Stefan daunting subjects, allowing us to
then examines how the Egyptians used better understand our world.
‘Stefan Buijsman is 21 years old and
does everything a bit quicker than the
rest of us. At 15 he went to university,
and at 18 he left for Sweden with his
master’s degree. He finished his Ph.D.
when he was just 20. Stefan is 21 and
so smart that we’re almost speechless.’
– NOS op 313 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Frederike Geerdink
This Fire Never Dies
A year with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
An extraordinary inside-look at the PKK
After Frederike Geerdink was expelled frustrations of immersing herself in her Frederike Geerdink (b. 1970)
from Turkey in 2015 for her foreign subject. Completely cut-off from the worked in Turkey for nine years as
a journalist until she was expelled by
correspondent’s work, she decided to outside world, she is forced to slow down
the government under suspicion of
continue her coverage of the Kurdish to guerrilla fighter’s time and they ask her ‘engaging in subversive activities’.
people by spending a year embedded in to expand her historical perspective. It is a Her book The Boys Are Dead, about
the PKK. Her journey takes her from the universe surprisingly unperturbed by the the Turkish bombardment of a village
guerrilla fighters’ headquarters in the coup attempt in Turkey that July and the in south-eastern Turkey, in which
dozens of civilians were killed, was
Qandil-mountains in northern Iraq to extensive political purges that follow it.
published in 2014. In May 2016,
the Democratic Federation of Northern The PKK has its own path, its own tempo. Geerdink left for a PKK training
Syria. Along the way, Geerdink examines Geerdink tackles such questions as: camp in northern Iraq to report on
the freedom movement’s culture, sketches What are the PKK fighting for? Why do so the Kurdish freedom movement
the Kurdish people’s history and ideo many women join? Will the fighters ever from within.
logies, and bears witness to the many lay down their weapons? How has the
Publishing details
stories, dreams and choices of the organization changed since their leader’s Dit vuur dooft nooit.
everyday fighters. imprisonment? She offers surprising Een jaar bij de PKK (2018)
insights into the history of ideas behind 304 pp.
The PKK has been at war with the Turkish the PKK and their fierce opposition to Publisher: Unieboek Het Spectrum
English sample translation available
state since 1976. Their struggle forms one nation states, capitalism and their real
front in a broader fight for greater Kurdish enemy: patriarchy. She also addresses the Rights
autonomy in the region. The conflict has PKK’s civilian casualties. Sebes & Bisseling Literary
already cost 50,000 lives and includes As an independent journalist Geerdink Agency / Willem Bisseling
sister organizations in Syria, Iraq and Iran. is critical, though she finds it hard to bisseling@sebes.nl
Though they are minorities in their remain impartial: understanding and
Photo: Mona van den Berg
respective four countries, the Kurds sympathy for the fighters and their vision
number forty million people. prevail in her account. Part journalism,
In May 2016 Geerdink heads for a PKK part travelogue, part war reportage, the
training camp in northern Iraq. Writing in result is an illuminating and human
a style that is both accessible and engag- portrait of the PKK and an excellent
ing, she takes readers inside the daily life overview of a turbulent region.
on the bases; she details her joys and
‘A journalistic masterpiece.’
– De Correspondent
‘Although Geerdink clearly sympathises with
the Kurdish cause, she doesn’t shy away from
asking critical questions. This invested but
critical approach offers a revealing look at
a world that other international journalists
don’t have access to.’
– Amnesty / Wordt Vervolgd
‘A reportage, written accessibly and with flair,
of Geerdink’s year spent with the PKK.’
– Trouw14 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Recent Translations This is a selection of recently published
translations from the Dutch. For more information
please go to our online database of translations
en.vertalingendatabase.nl.
Annejet van der Zijl Linda Polman Pieter Steinz
An American Princess. Laleczki skazańców. Życie z karą Avrup a'yi Avrupa Yapan Değerler.
The many lives of Allene Tew śmierci (Death Row Dollies) (Made in Europe)
De Amerikaanse prinses Death Row Dollies Made in Europe
Published in English by AmazonCrossing Published in Polish by Czarne (2018). Published in Turkish by Alfa (2017). Translated
(2018). Translated by Michele Hutchison. Translated by Malgorzata Woźniak Diederen. by Kadir Türkmen. Also in German (Knaus).
Also in German (WBG/Konrad Theiss). Also in Turkish (Paloma) and Arabic (Dar
Oktob).
Zoni Weisz Alexander Münninghoff Natascha Veldhorst
Der vergessene Holocaust Der Stammhalter. Van Gogh and Music.
De vergeten holocaust Roman einer Familie A Symphony in Blue and Yellow
Published in German by Deutscher De stamhouder. Een familiekroniek Van Gogh en muziek: symfonie
Taschenbuch Verlag (2018). Translated Published in German by C.H. Beck (2018). in blauw en geel
by Bärbel Jänicke. Translated by Andreas Ecke. Also in Czech Published in English by Yale University
(Mladá Fronta), Catalan (Edition 84) and Press (2018). Translated by Diane Webb.
French (Payot).15 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
New & Noteworthy
Published in the Netherlands
The life of a free-spirited artist And a source of comfort…
Annet Mooij Sander de Hosson
The Century of Gisèle: The The Final Bow:
Myth and Reality of an Artist The Experiences
De eeuw van Gisèle. of a Lung Specialist
Mythe en werkelijkheid van een Slotcouplet. Ervaringen
kunstenares (September 2018) van een longarts (March 2018)
Rights: De Bezige Bij, Uta Matten 16,000 copies sold
u.matten@debezigebij.nl English sample translation available
Marijke Nagtegaal Rights: Singel uitgeverijen,
m.nagtegaal@debezigebij.nl Jolijn Sporen
j.spooren@singeluitgeverijen.nl
‘If she was still alive, Gisèle d’Ailly-
van Waterschoot van der Gracht Pulmonologist De Hosson treats
would have done everything she patients with an incurable illness
could to prevent this biography from in the final stage of their lives. His
seeing the light of day.’ This is the motto is: sometimes heal, often
first line of Annet Mooij’s thrilling enlighten, always comfort. This ‘In his book The Final Bow
biography of a free-spirited painter book is a poignant plea for more this pulmonologist explains
who played a remarkable role in the humanity in the medical world. why doctors shouldn’t just
war and led an exceptional life. limit themselves to scans
and medicines.’
– Trouw
The wonderful world of algae A beautiful family epic
Miek Zwamborn Jan Konst
Algae The Winter Garden:
Wieren (2018) A German Family in the Long
German translation available Twentieth Century
Rights: Van Oorschot,
De Wintertuin. Een Duitse familie
Frederike Doppenberg
in de lange twintigste eeuw (2018)
frederike@vanoorschot.nl
6,000 copies sold
Rights sold: Germany German sample translation available
(Matthes & Seitz)
Rights: Balans, Plien van Albada
vanalbada@uitgeverijbalans.nl
An entertaining, poetic and asto
Rights sold: Germany (Europa Verlag)
nishing cultural history of the most
sensual family of aquatic plants:
‘Konst has written a fascinating
an ode to algae.
book about a German family and
how it held its ground across four
‘A salty field guide full of green, red,
generations in the turbulent
brown and blue algae immortalized
twentieth century. It portrays people talk about the “ordinary”
in painting, praised in literature,
trying to lead a more or less normal Germans who caused
emerging from fashion and fabric
life in times of political turmoil.’ untold suffering and were
designs, and served in tasty and
– NRC Handelsblad severely punished for it.
nutritious dishes, based on
Konst’s solution: don’t try
wholesome recipes from different
‘The Winter Garden is not only to hide your own ambivalent
parts of the world, topped off with
an impressive history of a very feelings. Be frank as a
fifty colour illustrations.’
ordinary family in wartime, but also writer. And it works.’
– Athenaeum.nl
an investigation into how to best – TrouwQuality
16 Non-Fiction From Holland Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Frank Westerman Henk Blanken
We, Hominids It Won’t Kill You
Selma Leydesdorff Beatrice de Graaf
Sasha Pechersky The Balancers
Olivier van Beemen Eva Meijer
Beer in Africa The Limits of My Language
Mineke Schipper Stefan Buijsman
Hills of Paradise Pluses and Minuses
Henkjan Honing Frederike Geerdink
Darwin’s Assumption This Fire Never Dies
Jan Brokken
The Just
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