Tobi Lakmaker
The History of My Sexuality
literary fiction
Lize Spit
The Rightful Finder
literary fiction
Saskia de Coster Like the Real Thing
12/13
literary debut
Tiemen Hiemstra W.
14/15
literary fiction
Yves Petry Man Is Everywhere. A Murder Fantasy
16/17
Emma van Meyeren
I, Too, Have Been Blown to Pieces
Copies sold: 25.000
Original title:
De geschiedenis van mijn seksualiteit
Publication:
February 2021
Pages:
224
Available material:
Full English, full German, full Swedish, full Italian, full Norwegian MS & French sample
Primary agent: Stella Rieck (rieck@cossee.com)
Rights sold:
Piper (German)
Granta (World English)
Éditions La Peuplade (French, Canada)
Aschehoug (Norwegian)
it-lit (Swedish)
Janet45 (Bulgarian)
Treci trg (Serbian)
Mondadori (Italian)
Kosmos (Finnish)
Aristas (Spanish)
Okraj (Slovak)
Vince Books (Hungarian)
And option on film rights (Man Up Film, the production company of Carice van Houten and Halina Reijn)
Won:
Hans Vervoort Prize
Nominated:
Boekenbon Literature Prize
De Boon
De Bronzen Uil
Promoted by the Dutch Foundation for Literature. For translation grants visit letterenfonds.nl/en/grants
‘The history of my sexuality is that I have always been looking for someone to close all the doors and windows, someone who would say, okay, that’s enough now. More precisely, first I was into men and later into women, but really always into women; into Muriel, my long-legged, red-headed tutor – into so many women really – but I kept my eyes and something else extremely crucial closed. Not that any of that is actually relevant.’
The History of My Sexuality is the razor sharp and unconventional debut by Tobi Lakmaker, once deemed a muse and then a little later a lesbian fundamentalist. An essential book. About the genius that Tobi Lakmaker is, was or should have been.
‘Tobi Lakmaker’s debut novel has what it takes to become a big success – because it is a fiery story, unflinching and humorous, written in such an unctuous manner, you will simply fly through it.’
– ★★★★★,
NRC HandelsbladTobi Lakmaker (b. 1994) writes columns for Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer and other magazines. After having dabbled in Russian studies and Literary studies for a bit, he finished a degree in Philosophy in 2018, and plans to continue his studies in Berlin. Lakmaker was listed by Vogue Magazine and AD Magazine as the new literary talent of 2021. He is a regular columnist for Volkskrant Magazine and is working on a second novel.
‘It’s a pure joy to follow along in Tobi Lakmaker’s high-quality literary chatter. Lakmaker is sharp, street smart, laconic and in your face, weird and emotional, ironic, and harsh about a whole lot of things. The novel is filled with Tobi’s black humour which is situated somewhere in the borderlands between despair and lust for life.’
– Dagens Nyheter
‘The History of My Sexuality fearlessly tells of the contradictions of one's own identity. Lakmaker brilliantly depicts the protagonist’s ongoing back and forth movement between gender identities. An absolute reading recommendation for this humorous and profound novel.’
– Berliner Zeitung
‘He sounds as sharp and fresh as he is, and as far as I’m concerned he knocks Sally Rooney off her throne, and is the one and only J.D. Salinger of the Snapchat generation.’
– Jozefien van Beek, column in De Standaard‘Lakmaker is like a good friend with whom you’d want to chat for hours about sex, football, and life.’
– ★★★★, de Volkskrant
‘The one and only J.D. Salinger of the Snapchat generation.’ – De Standaard
Original title: De eerlijke vinder
Publication:
March 2023
Pages: 96
Available material: English sample, translated by Sam Garrett
Primary agent: Laurence Laluyaux (l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency.com)
Print run:
700.000
Rights sold:
Fischer (German)
Actes Sud (French)
Siren Kitap (Turkish) it-lit (Swedish)
Promoted by Flanders Literature. For translation grants, visit flandersliterature.be/grants
‘Lize Spit’s (young) heroes, in search of connection, go far beyond their limits, which leads to horrific drama. She’s a master at building tension. Before she has one word written down, she already knows exactly where she wants the story to lead to, and she lets you know from the first paragraph onwards.’
– Trouw
‘The longer he waited, the less courage he had to be a coward.’
In the late 1990s, in the Flemish Kempen region, Jimmy, who is going through a difficult time at home, finds new inspiration when the son of a Kosovar refugee family sits next to him in class. Jimmy is the smartest but also the loneliest in his class. He sees it as his mission to help Tristan Ibrahimi get through the school year. All the time he doesn’t spend collecting Tazos, he spends with the Kosovar family. When the Ibrahimi family suddenly faces deportation a year later, Tristan comes up with a plan that will demand a lot from Jimmy.
‘A clever and supple writer, also on the short track. In less than a hundred pages Lize Spit manages to create a gripping, timely and moving image of her protagonist.’
– ★★★★★, NRC Handelsblad
Lize Spit (b. 1988) lives in Brussels. She has a MA in Screenwriting and has taught writing at the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels. When her debut novel, The Melting, was published in 2016 it took the world by storm. It became a huge critical and commercial success, selling 220,000 copies in The Netherlands and Belgium alone and translation rights were sold in sixteen territories. A film adaptation followed. Her second novel, I’m not here, was published in late 2020 and has been nominated for the Libris Prize and the Jean Monnet European Literature Prize. Spit was chosen to write the 2023 ‘Boekenweekgeschenk,’ the prestigious Dutch Book Week Gift, which was published in March 2023 and distributed in a print-run of 700.000 copies: The Rightful Finder.
‘Reminiscent of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.’
– De Groene Amsterdammer
‘Lize Spit writes about the friendship between two boys who come under pressure due to circumstances beyond their control in an accessible and moving manner. The Rightful Finder is a literary gem that shows the power of literature at its finest.’
– ★★★★, Het Nieuwsblad
‘Thrilling, touching, engaged, literary but approachable, and with a tension that is tightly stretched over ninety pages. If this doesn’t get you to read, then just quit trying.’
– ★★★★, de Volkskrant
Original title:
Het smelt
Publication:
November 2015
Pages: 480
Available material:
Full English MS
Primary agent: Laurence Laluyaux (l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency.com)
Copies sold:
220.000
Rights sold:
Host (Czech)
Fischer (German)
Planeta (Spanish)
Rosinante (Danish)
Cappelen Damm (Norwegian)
Actes Sud (French)
MacMillan (World English)
E/O (Italian)
Marginesy (Polish)
Ara Llibres (Catalan)
Janet 45 (Bulgarian)
Tchelet (Hebrew)
Metaichmio (Greek)
Hena Com (Croatian)
Jelenkor (Hungarian)
It-lit (Swedish)
Savage (film rights)
Won:
Bronzen Uil
Booksellers’ Prize
Hebban-Debut Prize
Nominated:
Libris Literature Prize
The ANV-Debut Prize
The Strega European Prize
Promoted by Flanders Literature. For translation grants, visit flandersliterature.be/grants
by the throat.
the author wrote a debut you would wish for all authors. Familiar, surprising, imaginative and merciless. The Melting is like a long range missile, that only seems to cast a dark shadow and flies by without causing damage, but then it hits with calculated precision.' – De Standaard
The literary debut that sold more than 220.000 copies
‘Spit writes with ease and grabs you
The Melting sizzles,
Original title: Ik ben er niet
Publication: December 2020
Pages: 576
Available material:
Extensive English sample & full Danish, German, Italian, French and Swedish MS
Primary agent: Laurence Laluyaux (l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency.com)
Copies sold: 75.000
Rights sold: Gutkind (Danish/pre-empt) E/O (Italian) Fischer (German)
Actes Sud (French) it-lit (Swedish)
Nominated: Libris Literature Prize Prix Jean-Monnet de littérature européenne
Promoted by Flanders Literature. For translation grants, visit flandersliterature.be/grants
In 2020, Lize published her second novel, I'm Not Here, which confirmed her place in readers’ hearts and led critics to say that the fiery debutant has become a great author. It sold very well and was nominated for the Libris Prize.
‘
I’m Not Here is a marvellous, breathtaking oppression of a book. Deftly, Spit spreads information, story clues, keys. Spit grabs you by the throat. An unputdownable novel.’ – ★★★★, NRC
Original title:
Net echt
Publication: May 2023
Pages: 280
Available material: English sample, translated by Sam Garrett
Primary contact: Daniël van der Meer (daniel@dasmag.nl)
Copies sold: 5.000
Nominated:
Longlist Boekenbon Literature Prize Promoted by Flanders Literature. For translation grants, visit flandersliterature.be/grants
This is a story about Max, Manon, and Noah. An architect, a lawyer, a daughter. A dream house in the gentrified neighbourhood of Borgerhout, Antwerp. An ostensibly perfect family that falls apart. A tale about the small cracks in the foundation that no one paid attention to, about the participants and spectators of the game, about how hindsight cannot save us.
Like the Real Thing is a family novel and a hall of mirrors combined, in which Saskia de Coster intertwines story and life.
‘Wooow. Wooow. Wooow. Wooow.’
– Angelo Tijssens, author and scriptwriter (Girl and Close)
‘A hall of mirrors where you can get wonderfully lost.’
– Knack
‘De Coster examines the constellation of a family and shakes it up. An ingenious, original pageturner.’
– VPRO
GidsSaskia de Coster (b. 1976) is the author of an idiosyncratic body of work. Her work has been translated into more than ten languages. Her previous novel, Nachtouders (2019), was shortlisted for the Libris Literature Prize 2020.
‘I devoured it. A breathtaking and once again uniquely formulated novel.’
– Humo
‘A personal story about love, parenthood, and infidelity. De Coster’s mischievous view of life is sharp and entertaining. She mocks the cliché that we all, to some extent, embody.’
– De Tijd
‘A book about the ticking time bomb of middle-class happiness.’ – De Morgen
Original title: W.
Publication: May 2023
Pages: 224
Available material: English sample, translated by Fannah Palmer
Primary agent: Stella Rieck (rieck@cossee.com)
Nominated:
Longlist Boekenbon Literature Prize
Promoted by the Dutch Foundation for Literature. For translation grants visit letterenfonds.nl/en/grants
‘A fresh, original debut novel. With its colloquial style, Hiemstra maintains a brisk pace, while casually offering a clever reflection on the power of memory and the essence of friendship.’
– Trouw
‘Get ready for a remarkable prose debut by Tiemen Hiemstra. With his unique narrative style (with influences from J.D. Salinger and Gerard Reve), this is undoubtedly one to snatch up.’
– De Morgen
What drives a person to escape to another life? How well can we truly know another person? Is there a place where people can become lost? These are the questions that torment Olaf after W.’s sudden departure. The only thing W. left behind is a laptop containing ‘The Sarcophagus of Fun’ – a folder full of memes, haiku’s, and reflections that might help Olaf solve the puzzle of his best friend’s disappearance. When W. is sighted again after three years, Olaf digs into his digital footprint in an attempt to grasp his friend’s vanishing and their shared past.
The labyrinthine prose of W. is something in which you want to get lost.
‘Concrete, down-to-earth, directly written, and cheerful to the core. An excellent novel that captivated me. Hiemstra takes different paths from what is currently customary in literature. His sentences burn with longing for the ordinary and the elusive.’
– De Groene Amsterdammer‘
Tiemen Hiemstra (b. 1991) grew up in Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands. He studied literature in Antwerp, where he currently resides again after a brief period as a postman in Leipzig. His stories have previously appeared in various literary magazines. W. is his debut novel.
W. feels like an ode to freedom, to the urge to travel and explore, as you most strongly feel it during and immediately after your academic years; the magical years.’
– Tzum‘Hiemstra skillfully switches between the present and the past, in a naturally flowing, dreamy, and imagery-rich language, where submarines sail through the streets and walking sticks symbolise the doppelgänger motif. A gripping story about the void left by a disappearing act. Tiemen Hiemstra is a name to remember.’
– Humo
The enigmatic story of the disappearance of a best friend
Original title: Overal zit mens. Een moordfantasie
Publication: October 2022
Pages: 256
Available material: English sample, translated by Laura Vroomen & German sample, translated by Dania Schüürmann
Primary agent: Stella Rieck (rieck@cossee.com)
Copies sold: 4.000
Nominated:
Shortlist Libris Literature Prize
Promoted by Flanders Literature. For translation grants, visit flandersliterature.be/grants
Everywhere there is man. The human element has nestled itself in every corner of the sublunary, in every pore of the biosphere. Not a patch of moss, not a drop in the sea, not a sample of soil or eternal snow that doesn’t contain millions of human molecules. Man has nowhere left to go. He is already everywhere.
As the caretaker of the Mirandel Forest, Kasper Kind takes the rather bleak state of the planet very seriously. Equally serious is his plan to murder public intellectual Max De Man, with whom he shares a history. Things don’t go exactly as planned, however. Between dream and action, laws and practical obstacles stand in the way, and above all, there are humans, always humans.
‘Deep-seated misanthropy was rarely articulated with such fervour and stylistic refinement.’
– Humo
‘The stylistic brilliance jumps off the pages. Man is Everywhere is even more radical than his previous work.’
– Trouw
Yves Petry (b. 1967) is one of the most important Flemish writers. He has won prestigious awards such as the Libris Literature Prize, the BNG New Literature Prize, the Inktaap, and the Tzum Prize for the best literary sentence of the year.
‘One of the few writers left who unabashedly views literature as an art form.’
– ★★★★, De Standaard
‘Yves Petry portrays a complex world which doesn’t have much time left.’
– ★★★★, de Volkskrant
‘A book for connoisseurs, misanthropic yet full of humour. Enjoyable.’
– VPRO Brommer op zee
‘The Houellebecq of the Low Countries.’ – NRC
Original title: Ook ik ben stukgewaaid
Publication:
November 2020
Pages: 64
Available material: English sample, translated by Fannah Palmer
Primary contact: Sayonara Stutgard (sayonara@dasmag.nl)
Promoted by the Dutch Foundation for Literature. For translation grants visit letterenfonds.nl/en/grants
I, Too, Have Been Blown to Pieces is a collection of notes about enduring grief. Ten years after the loss of her mother, Emma van Meyeren realises that grief cannot be processed. Instead of positioning the processing of loss and grief as the ultimate goal, she explores the possibilities of maintaining an ambivalent attitude towards her bereavement.
In three essays, she discusses the role of nostalgia and melancholy in the grieving process and suggests new ways of dealing with grief through metaphors and somatic rituals.
‘A beautiful, small document, which challenges the nonsensical notion that grief disappears, can be worked out of our systems.’
– De RevisorEmma van Meyeren (b. 1992) grew up in the early aughts. She radicalised as a student and has been waiting for society to revert back to its origins as a matriarchy ever since. Until that day comes, she writes and is an editor at cultural centre Perdu and literary festival Read My World. Her doctoral research at Leiden University investigates language experiments in the work of Surinamese author Astrid Roemer. In 2021 she was nominated for The Young Art Critic Prize.
‘Absurdly good.’
– Maurits de Bruijn, author
‘The essays surprised me in their tone, lucid and serious, and because of something conscientious.’
– Marja Pruis in De Groene Amsterdammer‘A remarkable debut.’
– Astrid Roemer, author
A lyrical, boundary-pushing experience that at times resembles a drug trip more than a novel, by one of the leading Dutch literary voices
In Oersoep Bregje Hofstede aims to capture the essence of life by embarking on a radical examination of the self, where she tries to commit the indescribable to paper.
Bregje Hofstede (b. 1988) made her debut with The Sky Above Paris (2014), which was nominated for the Libris Literature Prize, the Anton Wachter Prize and the Gouden Boekenuil. Her latest novel Drive (2018) was shortlisted for the Libris Literature Prize. Her work is translated into Danish, German, Arabic and English.
Vincent Van Meenen
0xBlixa
A modern Great Gatsby in the metaverse
0xBlixa is a captivating portrait of the dark side of the cryptoverse in an entirely unique literary style. A modern Great Gatsby, but set in a residential neighbourhood in Belgium, with chia and oat milk instead of champagne and cigars.
Vincent Van Meenen (b. 1989) is a writer and researcher. He is pursuing his doctorate at the Royal Conservatoire in Antwerp. He collaborated on theatre projects with refugees in Athens, won the WriteNow! (the largest writing competition in the Low Countries) at the age of 22, and authored four novels and a poetry collection. 0xBlixa is his first book with Das Mag.
Das Mag is an Amsterdam-based, independent publishing house, established in 2015. The Das Mag team used to shake up the Dutch literary scene with their literary magazine Das Magazin, but seven years ago decided to take the next step: to start their own publishing house. According to Dutch newspaper NRC, Das Mag is ‘the publisher that does things differently’ in The Netherlands. Das Mag only publishes around 20 books a year, works on extensive marketing campaigns for their titles, and has a vocal fan base consisting of relatively young readers. Besides publishing Dutch (e.g. Lize Spit, Tobi Lakmaker, Bregje Hofstede, Aya Sabi) and translated fiction and nonfiction (e.g. Tove Ditlevsen, Olga Ravn, Sang Young Park, Warsan Shire and Valeria Luiselli), Das Mag organises a yearly summer camp for aspiring writers between the ages of 18 and 25, hosts book clubs and book club festivals.
Das Mag’s recent foreign rights acquisitions:
Brenda Navarro - Eating Ashes (Ceniza en la boca, Spain/Latin America, Sexto Piso, 2022)
Derek Jarman - Modern Nature (UK, Vintage Classics, 1991)
Asta Olivia Nordenhof - Money to Burn (Penge på lommen, Denmark, Basilisk, 2020)
Jens Anderson - Ditlevsen. A Biography (Ditlevsen. En biografi, Denmark, Gyldendal, 2022)
Ana Iris Simón - Fair (Feria, Spain, Círculo de Tiza, 2020)
Sang Young Park - I’m One Dimensional (1차원이되고싶어, South-Korea, Munhakdongne, 2021)
Tove Ditlevsen - The Trouble with Happiness (Den onde lykke, Denmark, Hasselbalch, 1963)
Banana Yoshimoto - Kitchen (Japan, Shinchosha, 1988)
Chaos Publishers is an imprint of Das Mag Publishers. Chaos started as a small press in 2017. Our intention and hope was, and still is, to make Dutch publishing a more diverse and accepting space, and to publish literature that reflects the world we see around us. Since then, Chaos has published translations of two classic texts: Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, and Zora Neale Hurston’s How It Feels to Be Colored Me. Chaos added introductions and letter exchanges on these seminal texts to place them in a contemporary Dutch context that both reflects and benefits our diverse readership. As an imprint of Das Mag Publishers, Chaos has published the Dutch translation of Johanna Hedva’s Sick Woman Theory, and Vlucht/Dans/ Vondst, a short story collection by Simone Atangana Bekono, Daphne Huisden, and Yael van der Wouden.
Chaos’ recent foreign rights acquisitions:
Yael van der Wouden - The Safekeep (United States, Avid Reader, 2024)
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Editor & foreign rights acquisitions Das Mag: Isabel Harlaar isabel@dasmag.nl
Publisher Das Mag: Daniël van der Meer daniel@dasmag.nl
Publisher Chaos: Sayonara Stutgard sayonara@dasmag.nl
Das Mag works with the following co-agents for selected titles:
RCW: Laurence Laluyaux l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency.com
Cossee: Stella Rieck rieck@cossee.com
Editor & PR Das Mag: Bowi van Onna bowi@dasmag.nl
Deputy publisher & editor Das Mag: Marscha Holman marscha@dasmag.nl
Publisher Chaos: Thalia Ostendorf thalia@dasmag.nl
General inquiries: info@dasmag.nl
Address: Staalstraat 7B 1011 JJ Amsterdam
For more information about our books: dasmag.nl instagram.com/dasmag instagram.com/uitgeverijchaos