Foreign Rights Guide London Book Fair 2016
De Bezige Bij The Busy Bee
1
foreign rights guide london book fair 2016
A.F.Th. van der Heijden Yannick Dangre Daan Heerma van Voss Alicja Gescinska Allard Schröder Gie Bogaert
Frank Westerman David Van Reybrouck Ignaas Devisch Paul Glaser Marieke Poelmann Marcia Luyten Simone van Saarloos
Bart-Jan Kazemier Boris O. Dittrich Corine Hartman
Judith Vanistendael; Mark Bellido
new literary fiction The Morning Gift The Idiot and the Tenderness The Last War A Kind of Love Sebastian’s Nose Roosevelt
new literary non fiction A Word A Word Zinc Restlessness. In Defence of an Immoderate Life Dancing with the Enemy Everything Around You is Still There The Luck of Limburg The Monogamy Drama
commercial fiction Drone W.O.L.F. A Fit of Insanity
graphic novels Mikel
successful titles
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56
Simonne van Gennip Thomas Heerma van Voss Milan Hulsing Hagar Peeters Ross & Hartman Chris de Stoop David Van Reybrouck Paul Verhaeghe Guy Verhofstadt
An Error in My Head Stern The Assault Malva Death’s Head Moth This is My Farm Against Elections Authority Europe´s Last Chance. Why the European States Must Form a More Perfect Union
The Convert of Monieux The Birds Eden Yucca
60 60 61 61
recently filmed
62
Stefan Hertmans Margriet de Moor Marcel Möring Peter Terrin
preview
58
de bezige bij
new literary fiction
‘Again we are very much in Van der Heijden’s universe, in which expressiveness is extremely physical; he always has an attentive eye and a mellow form of words for the dirtiest of details.’ **** – de volkskrant ‘The Morning Gift is a pageturner full of racy **** – de morgen
intrigues.’
‘Van der Heijden wields his pen like a quill and excels at fertile observations.’ – elsevier
a.f.t.h. van der heijden (b. 1951) is one of the greatest of living Dutch authors. His oeuvre consists mainly of two sagas: The Toothless Time and Homo Duplex. In 2011 he won the Constantijn Huygens Award for his oeuvre as a whole. In the same year he published Tonio, a requiem novel about the sudden death of his only child, which won him the Libris Literature Prize and the ns Readers’ Prize. In 2013 A.F.Th. van der Heijden received the P.C. Hooft Prize for his entire oeuvre. The Hellcat will be published by Suhrkamp Verlag in September. The film version of The Hellcat has been launched in March by Sigma Pictures and the film adaptation of Tonio, produced by nl film & tv, will be released in October. 4
A.F.Th. van der Heijden The Morning Gift An elegant historical pageturner with an ingenious plot
Nijmegen, 10 July 1672. When in the early morning after Caspar and Sara’s wedding night the troops of Louis xiv take the city, the young bride disappears without trace. The question is: has she left her ‘morning gift’ with Caspar or taken it with her to an unknown destination? Caspar sets out on a desperate search. Six years later, on the day that the Treaty of Nijmegen is signed, he finds his bride in the temporary French embassy as mistress to the Marquis of Caloyanni. What has her true role been all these years? Now that peace has come, Sara wants to return to her old life as quickly as possible, but will the deceived Caloyanni simply allow her to leave?
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Suhrkamp Verlag (Germany) Novel • 304 pages • 2015 • Featured title in 10 Books from Holland, newsletter of the Dutch Foundation for Literature 5
de bezige bij
new literary fiction
Press on previous work: ‘A prodigy in hidden things.’ **** – nrc handelsblad ‘Dangre seems born to create moving portrayals of human passion.’ – trouw ‘Dangre’s greatest trump card remains the musicality of his language. Nothing in this novel feels artificial,
as if it was written at one sitting.
There can be no doubt that Dangre will write many more beautiful things.’ – de standaard
yannick dangre (b. 1987), ‘Talent of 2016’(NRC Handelsblad), is a writer and poet. He graduated in Dutch and French literature and made his debut at the age of twenty-two with the novel Volcano Fruit, which was extremely well received and won him the Debut Prize. Dangre then made a successful debut as a poet. His collection Girl I Still Like was nominated for the C. Buddingh’ Prize and awarded the Herman De Coninck Prize. In September 2012 his second novel appeared, March Rooms, and in 2014 his second poetry collection, With Retrospective Effect. 6
Yannick Dangre The Idiot and the Tenderness A moving family portrait, seen through the eyes of the sensitive grandchild Tristan In the 1960s Tristan’s grandparents are hard-working people with their own grocery shop. Their four children help in the shop but suffer as a result of their father’s violent behaviour. Their mother increasingly turns in on herself, leading the children to take things into their own hands and eventually ban their father from the house. Years later, when Arthur and his brother Frank want to sell their parents’ business to start their own bicycle shop, their father comes firmly back onto the scene and they are forced to confront their past. Yannick Dangre surprises us once again with a novel that testifies to his vivid, compelling style and great empathy.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Novel • 305 pages • April 2016 7
de bezige bij
new literary fiction
‘It’s a kind of cross between Leon de Winter, Harry Mulisch and Arnon Grunberg.’ – de morgen
Daan Heerma van Voss The Last War
‘Daan Heerma van Voss is without a doubt the most interesting writer of his generation. Unable to write even one dull sentence, his work is of a scope and maturity one rarely sees in a 30-year old. Saying this writer is “promising” is abreast of things. That promise has been amply fulfilled.’ – Herman Koch, author of The Dinner
How can someone who has never been put to test by war and its moral dilemmas prove his goodness?
‘At last a character who acts, instead of numbly watching;
grotesque and tragic at the same time. The Last War is a fable in chiaroscuro about how to be human in uncertain times.’ – de volkskrant ‘A story that grabs the reader. Convincing haunting.’ – het parool
and
daan heerma van voss (b. 1986) is the author of several novels: A Sunday Man (nominated for the Anton Wachter Prize 2012), With No Time to Lose (2012), The Forgetting (2013), 70 (2013) and Land 32 (2014, nominated for the Cutting Edge Award and the Halewijn Prize). He also writes regularly for de Volkskrant and De Morgen. In 2012 he was awarded De Tegel, a prize for outstanding journalistic writing. His articles have appeared in the Vogue (usa), Haaretz, Svenska Dagbladet and The New York Times. 8
In the 1980s, while studying history, Abel Kaplan got to know Eva, the love of his life. In her Jewish family he experiences for the first time the feeling of being in the right place, and calls it happiness. He identifies more and more with the story of Eva and her family, but when his marriage to her remains childless and he proves unable to fulfil his ambition as a writer, the two grow apart. Kaplan then opts for a modest job at an Islamic school, but eventually his sense of justice prompts him to act. His concern about a bullied pupil causes his life to gain momentum. The Last War is a moving and sometimes humorous book in which the reader is carried progressively deeper into the extra ordinary world of Abel Kaplan.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: dtv (Germany), Weyler Forlag (Sweden) • English sample available • Novel • 432 pages January 2016 9
de bezige bij
new literary fiction
‘But our child had a right to a family and a father, just as much as Lizzie did. What gave me the right to tear a family apart, to start one for myself?’ ‘A Kind of Love is a beautiful, thoroughly successful novel. Gescinska is gifted storyteller.’ – tzum ‘Gescinska stands out immediately for her erudition, intelligence and enthusiasm.’ – de morgen
alicja gescinska (b. Warsaw, 1981) is one of the most prominent young philosophers of Belgium and the Netherlands. Her book The Conquest of Freedom (2011) was universally praised. In 1988 she fled communist Poland with her family and settled in Belgium, where she gained her doctorate in philosophy at the University of Ghent. She has worked at Princeton University and since 2014 at Amherst College.
Alicja Gescinska A Kind of Love When Elisabeth finds a love letter after the death of her father, she is forced to see him and their relationship in an entirely different light After the death of her father, a renowned professor of German cultural history, Elisabeth is faced with the task of clearing out his house. Since she was never able to get along with her father, this does not initially seem too much of a challenge. But when Elisabeth receives a letter, addressed to her father, rooms open up in the past of which she had no knowledge. Elisabeth and Anna, two women who never met, turn out to have caused a turning point in each other’s lives. It’s too late to change this, but perhaps not too late to understand it. A Kind of Love tells the story of many kinds of love: a troublesome love between father and daughter, and an unexpected love between an older professor and a young student. Love seems elusive and ambivalent, always.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Novel • 240 pages • February 2016 10
11
de bezige bij
new literary fiction
‘For images like these you read a novel such as Sebastian’s Nose: the moments in which literature
splashes into your body in a great wave and settles into the furthest corners [...] An outstanding novel.’ **** – nrc handelsblad ‘Schröder proves once again that he is one of the best novelists in the Netherlands.’ – de tijd ‘Schröder creates a magical universe, convincing thanks to its sparkling, fantastic style.’ – trouw
allard schröder (b. 1946) has written many novels, short stories and radio plays since the 1980s. His breakthrough came with The Hydrographer, an astonishing novel in which the laws of the sea are reflected in those of love. It won the author the ako Literature Prize in 2002 and was translated into several languages. In September it will be published in Germany by mare Verlag. Schröder has since written further novels and a volume of poetry. The novel The Dead Arm (2013) was shortlisted for the ako Literature Prize. 12
Allard Schröder Sebastian’s Nose A light and expressive novel about an older man in search of the love of his youth One day Sebastian Welsend, an ordinary bank employee, is sacked from his job. From one moment to the next he finds himself sitting at home unemployed, staring out of the window. He decides to start smoking again. It’s the cigarette smoke that takes him back to his youth and his then girlfriend Henriëtte, who called herself Henri. The sensation is so powerful that unknown forces drive him to go in search of her. The journey back in time makes clear to him why his love was impossible from the start. In Sebastian’s Nose all Allard Schröder’s skills are on display. The wicked pleasure with which he interweaves classical and less classical sources leaps off the page.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Novel • 448 pages • February 2016. Featured title in 10 Books from Holland, newsletter of the Dutch Foundation for Literature 13
de bezige bij
new literary fiction
‘An outstanding book.’ – de morgen ‘Uncovering the heart of the city and its inhabitants, Roosevelt is an ode to both Antwerp and to storytelling in its purest sense.’ – flanders today ‘In Roosevelt Bogaert once again demonstrates his literary power. He is the pointillist who tells small stories in a great way. He manages to capture in beautiful miniatures the tragedies and bright spots in everyday lives. **** – het nieuwsblad
gie bogaert (b. 1958) is a novelist, a teacher of Dutch and English, and a lecturer on prose at the Writers’ Academy. He has written columns for Radio 1, Radio Klara and the magazine Kunst & Cultuur. He has garnered praise for books including What Harm Do Magicians Do? (1990, ncr nomination), The Love Collector (1998), Sky Faces (2010, Literature Prize of the Antwerp Province) and recently Noora’s Mistake (2013). 14
Gie Bogaert Roosevelt A mosaic of a novel centred on the heart of a city: the Roosevelt square in Antwerp One sweltering summer’s day, several human lives are led to their apotheosis from a famous square in Antwerp. While the sun climbs over the roofs and the day slowly turns around, a Polish prostitute, a lecturer in literature and a tramp wander about, each with a secret. Who is the woman who spends her days counting on the platforms of the central Metropoolplein? How much resentment is there in the young man hiding in a room at the Terminus Hotel? And what is the tram driver longing for when he turns onto the square for the last time? Every one of their stories is moving, sometimes horrifying and occasionally disconcerting. The city square forms the decor and it alone sees the whole picture. With stylistic ingenuity Gie Bogaert pays refined homage to the power of invention.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Novel • 206 pages • March 2016 15
de bezige bij
new literary non-fiction
‘The name Frank Westerman stands for a new way of writing literature.’ – frankfurter allgemeine zeitung Press on Choke Valley:
‘A great book. Modern, urgent and suspenseful.’ – Laurent Binet (author of HhhH)
frank westerman (b. 1964) is the author of major bestsellers including The Republic of Grain (Lou de Jong Prize 2000), El Negro and Me (Golden Owl 2005) and Choke Valley (shortlisted for the ako Literature Prize 2014). His books have received many other awards and nominations both at home and abroad and his work has been published in sixteen languages.
Frank Westerman A Word a Word ‘The pen is mightier than the sword.’ Is that actually true? Westerman absorbs himself in terrorism and succeeds marvellously in charting our age In this book Frank Westerman tests the strength of the free word under the pressure of present-day attacks since Charlie Hebdo. He mixes with terrorism experts in Paris and drinks mint tea with a former train hijacker who has become a poet. To get a sense of what language can do against terror, Frank Westerman goes a step further by subjecting himself to a hijacking exercise in a Boeing 747 at Schiphol Airport and by training as a hostage negotiator in a police training village. What can the word achieve against the bullet? As a child Frank Westerman experienced the Moluccan train hijacking from close proximity and as a correspondent he witnessed the Chechen terror in Russia. Starting out from these intense experiences he takes the reader with him through a series of high-profile hostage dramas from Bovensmilde to Beslan, all of them inspired by the bible or the Koran.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Links Verlag (Germany) English sample available • Literary non-fiction • 288 pages • April 2016 16
17
de bezige bij Translated by Michele Hutchison There is a secret copy of the village of Ossendrecht, which clings to the border between the Netherlands and Flanders. The duplicate Ossendrecht, which covers an area almost as big as the original, does not have a church. It’s a satellite village of concrete constructions, hidden away in the pine forests. There is a fence around it with camera surveillance but no one lives there. ‘Ossendrecht-2’ you might say, by analogy of the forbidden, off the map Soviet cities Tomsk-7 and Krasnoyark-26 in the Siberian taiga, but this is much less shady, this is the transparent Netherlands. Ossendrecht-2, complete with a hotel, sports centre and shopping street, belongs to the Police Academy. It’s the home of the Training College for Serious Threats and Crisis Management. […] I’ve come to Ossendrecht-2 to learn the art of talking down terrorists. More specifically: I’m hoping to learn something from professional police negotiators. If I tease out the deeper questions I’m interested in, they go something like this: What can an orator accomplish against a murderer? Can words counter bullets? Which words? The news, hot off the press: the kidnapping of 276 secondary school girls in Nigeria by the Muslim brotherhood calling itself Boko Haram: ‘western education is forbidden.’ Would a twitter campaign help here? Does it make any difference that Michelle Obama is sharing a photo of herself holding a cardboard sign #BringBackOurGirls? When language and terror go head to head, which of the two wins? These are the existential questions I have become caught up in. I’ve run aground before – around the turn of the millennium. As a correspondent in Russia, I witnessed the violence flaring up in Chechnya. I’d barely arrived in Moscow, in 1998, when they found four heads on the southern bank of the River Terek. They were laid out on a sheet next to the tarmacked road, four hairy balls in a row. ‘Come and get them if you dare.’ The heads belonged to technicians from a telecoms company, three Brits and a New Zealander who’d been kidnapped earlier. As a correspondent, it was my job to file a report from Chechnya. I travelled to the Russian bank of the Terek; the first minaret stuck up above the willow trees on the other side. But I didn’t dare to cross – I didn’t want to be chained to a cot or a water pipe in some dungeon or other for weeks or months. I didn’t want to plead on camera to my parents to spare my 18
new literary non-fiction
life for sums of money they didn’t have. I didn’t even want to think about any other kinds of videos. In my reporting, I made a lot of the Chechynian kidnapping industry – perhaps out of self-justification. On a mountain pass in the Caucasus mountains, I interviewed a group of children who had fled Chechnya for Georgia. Two sisters described what it was like to be bombed. ‘Terrifying,’ one of them said. ‘We screamed,’ the other said. All of a sudden my Russian photographer hissed ‘get out of here’ in my ear. He’d spotted some thugs amongst the refugees, men with bum-fluff beards who were giving us funny looks and talking amongst themselves – he was afraid they wanted to take us across the mountain ridge into Chechnya, kidnapped booty. Our premature departure made me feel angry. If even the sidelines weren’t safe, would I have to exercise a buffer zone? I didn’t cherish any illusions that reporting changed the world for the better, but I did believe that stopping reporting changed the world for the worse. A correspondent was supposed to write down witness accounts and describe events at first hand. He or she mines for valuable facts – the irreplaceable fodder for dialogue and debate, for empathy and understanding. I felt defeated as a reporter on the Chechnya border. I’d lost my belief in the power of free speech. As I child I’d had no answer to the terrorist acts close to home and as an adult in Russia, this – in as much as I’d had it – had been taken away from me too. Since 9/11, the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, and even more so since IS’s executioners started posting films of beheadings online, I have wondered whether we have any kind of verbal defense against terror at all. Who still believes in gentle force these days? The force of water droplets hollowing out a stone? Neither talking nor writing achieves anything; the black flag and the Kalashnikov march on. Soon a pen will start to feel like an antique instrument, something to put in an old-fashioned museum. I have to brace myself to prevent my defeatism from turning into cynicism. The motto of the newspaper for which I reported for years was for nuance-seekers. Fuck off, you can’t talk to cut-throats. Send drones, kill them all. In an attempt to pre-empt this final step, I’ve signed up for Ossendrecht-2. To be specific: I’ve asked the managers of the Training College for Serious Threats and Crisis Management whether I can learn how to be a hostage negotiator. How do you address a terrorist? What kind of tone do you use? Should you be formal or informal? I feel the need to investigate this in the flesh, even though it’s only theatre. Is there an alternative to responding to violence with violence? 19
de bezige bij
new literary non-fiction
‘One of Europe’s leading young intellectuals.’ – der tagesspiegel ‘Zinc is a fascinating essay written according to the tried and tested empathetic recipe of Congo.’ – de standaard ‘In his essay David van Reybrouck pays much attention to the tragic aspects that were attached to the special status of Moresnet.’ – nederlands dagblad ‘In the personal, erudite and stirring form of history writing that is his trademark, Van Reybrouck presents Emil as nothing less than a modern-day Job, a punch bag of history.’ – vrij nederland david van reybrouck (b. 1971) is a journalist, a writer of literary non-fiction, a poet and a playwright. He made his debut in 2001 with the award-winning The Plague. His greatest success is Congo, a History, for which he received a slew of national and international prizes including the Libris History Prize 2010, the Jan Greshoff Prize 2010 and the ako Literature Prize 2010. The book was a runaway success in Germany, France and Norway and was translated into many languages. A Plea for Populism won him the Jan Hanlo Essay Prize 2009 and the Flemish Cultural Prize for Criticism and the Essay 2009. 2013 saw the publication of Against Elections, an urgent call for the reform of democracy, which has been sold to ten countries to date. 20
David Van Reybrouck Zinc Zinc is about more than an accident of history. It makes us ask what history does to ordinary people. ‘There sits Emil, an old man at forty-two, under a blanket, coughing. He’s had five nationalities, without even moving house.’ For more than a century, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany shared a neighbour, Neutral Moresnet, a completely forgotten mini-state that is now part of German-speaking Belgium but from 1816 to 1919 had its own flag, its own government, its own police force (one rural constable), its own postage stamp (valid for two weeks) and its own national anthem (in Esperanto, no less). It covered an area of 3.5 square kilometres, featuring zinc, distilleries, cabarets, brothels, smugglers, philanthropists and forests. In Zinc, his official ‘Dutch Book Week 2016’ essay, David Van Reybrouck tells the remarkable story of this forgotten country, based on the improbable fate of one of its citizens.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Essay • 63 pages • March 2016 21
de bezige bij
new literary non-fiction
‘You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.’ – William Blake
Ignaas Devisch Restlessness
‘An extremely worthwhile read. As well as a philosophical and historical exploration of troubling feelings, Devisch extends to us something we can grasp in order to pull ourselves out of the morass. – knack
In defence of an immoderate life
ignaas devisch (b. 1970) is professor of ethics, philosophy and medical philosophy at the University of Ghent and the Artevelde College. He publishes in the fields of social, medical and political philosophy. His critical essay about medicalization, Sick of Health, was published by De Bezige Bij in 2013.
On the positive aspects of a life of excess
We work less, but we have more to do. We have more free time, but we sleep less. While we complain about stress, rushing and the danger of burn-outs, we plan overfilled days. In short, our time is becoming ‘obese’. We cram everything in and are no longer able to mess about or truly do nothing. Anyone who thinks restlessness is a phenomenon specific to our own times is mistaken. For centuries people have sought a solution to a problem of which they themselves are the cause: an excessively full life. But is restlessness really a problem or one of our primary motivations? Passion, creativity and desire are the result of impatience, writes philosopher and physician Ignaas Devisch. In defiance of all appeals to slow down and of calls for spirituality and asceticism, this book advocates a balance between relaxation and dynamism.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Philosophy • 272 pages • March 2016 22
23
cargo
new literary non-fiction
‘Rosie was unconventional, exuberant and ever optimistic, and her spirit comes through in these pages.’ – jewish woman magazine ‘Rosie Glaser led one of the most extraordinary lives of the twentieth century. What is undeniable is Rosie’s fearless strength in facing her fate and her refusal to become a victim. She refers little to the brutality she encountered, but frequently mentions the little kindnesses extended by the Germans. The will to survive is powerful indeed.’ – the washington times ‘A readable, personable study and a scathing indictment of Dutch passivity in the face of occupation.’ – kirkus reviews
paul glaser (b. 1947) has held management positions in a number of educational and healthcare institutions. On discovering his family’s wartime secret, he decided to write a book about it. The translation rights have been sold in many countries. 24
Paul Glaser Dancing with the Enemy ‘When Dutch-born Glaser started digging up his hidden Jewish past, Paul Glaser learned that his estranged aunt Rosie had survived Nazi concentration camps by giving dancing lessons to the guards and having affairs with more than one. Letters, archives, diaries, relatives and family friends lead the writer, at last, to Rosie Glaser herself, and to an extraordinary story of an unconventional, nervy woman and her determination to survive.’ – the new york post During a visit to Auschwitz, Paul Glaser sees a Dutch suitcase on display, with his surname on it. It’s the start of a search for a long-hidden family secret: the fate of Paul’s Aunt Rosie. Rosie Glaser was a young Jewish woman from Den Bosch who worked as a dancing teacher. Extremely successful, she danced in Amsterdam, London, Paris and Berlin. When the National Socialists came to power, a life of extreme danger began for Rosie. Her own husband turned out to be a collaborator and he betrayed her to the Nazis. She was detained in several concentration camps, but survived even Auschwitz. World rights: Cargo. Rights sold: Penguin (USA), Motyl (Slovakia), Aufbau (Germany), Corpus Books (Russia), Triton (Czech Republic), Rocco (Brazil), Bompiani (Italy), City Press (China), Rebis Publishing House (Poland), Oneworld (UK) • WWII memoir • 320 pages • March 2016 (revised edition) 25
de bezige bij
new literary non-fiction
‘Besides being a moving story about sudden loss, this is a thoroughly intriguing (and sometimes shocking) family history. Marieke Poelmann has a strong and distinctive voice. A book that will buzz around in your head long after you’ve finished it.’ – Herman Koch, author of The Dinner ‘A wise and moving book.’ – vogue
‘Genuine and honest narrative; no room for sentimentality.’ – trouw
After gaining her Master’s degree in journalism, marieke poelmann (b. 1988) worked in New York as a producer for the Dutch news and current affairs programme Nieuwsuur. She currently works as a freelance journalist for the national newspaper nrc .next and is writing her second book, a novel. 26
Marieke Poelmann Everything Around You is Still There A penetrating and personal debut about the aftermath of the Tripoli airliner crash, five years on On 12 May 2010 both Marieke Poelmann’s parents were killed when an airliner crashed near Tripoli. They were on their way home from a vacation in South Africa. Marieke was twenty-two at the time. She had recently started a career in journalism and suddenly found herself on the wrong side of the news. What happened next was overwhelming: police liaison officers, victim assistance, banks and insurance companies all lined up at her parents’ doorstep. She found herself sharing responsibility with her older brother Boris for their handicapped brother Sandor, who had a brain tumour when he was eleven years old. Not to mention the immense sense of loss and grief that presented itself, which Poelmann describes incisively. The plane crash put into a wholly different perspective Marieke’s childhood fears, her memories of her brother’s illness and her family relationships. World rights: De Bezige Bij • Literary non-fiction • 256 pages • 2015 • ted Talk www.mariekepoelmann.nl/en 27
de bezige bij
new literary non-fiction
NOMINATED FOR THE BRUSSE PRIZE (BEST JOURNALISTIC PUBLICATION)
‘An irresistible story. Marcia Luyten pulls out all the literary stops; her language is baroque, spicy and full of compassion.’ ***** – de volkskrant ‘Luyten paints a virtually complete, colourful picture of the mining community of Heilust and surrounding area, paying particular attention to the woman who tried to wash that coal-black existence white.’ *** – nrc handelsblad ‘A beautifully written book, a delight to read; the life of my own family passes by.’ – Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission
marcia luyten (b. 1971) is an economist and cultural historian. She presents the programme Buitenhof for vpro television. She is the author of Whitey Give Money (2003), Blinkered (2008) and Bye, Africa (2013). The Luck of Limburg was published in 2015.
Marcia Luyten The Luck of Limburg About a son who fights the demons of a mineworkers’ family and has to break with everything to follow his dream, even though he will never truly leave the mining community When Sjaakie was born in 1949 everyone said the little fellow had perfect hands for working underground. He grew up as the fourth generation of a coalmining family in the south of the Netherlands, in a virtuous Catholic community brimful of pride: the miners could work, drink, pray, play and fight harder than anyone – and they were serving the nation. Everything revolved around coal. Large parts of South Limburg were reshaped by ‘social engineers’ to suit the ubiquitous coal. Church, mine and state ruled the miners’ lives in a totalitarian fashion. But Sjaakie wanted no part of it. He was going to sing, to take to the stage. While his star rose, the mines went into decline. Marcia Luyten depicts the glory and downfall of the Dutch coalmining industry through an eventful family history. World rights: De Bezige Bij • Literary non-fiction • 368 pages • 2015
28
29
de bezige bij
new literary non-fiction
‘Van Saarloos poses some pertinent questions, formulates fitting alternatives and here and there certainly has a point with regard to our image, interpretation and experience of monogamy.’ – knack
‘My very first flatmate had a boyfriend. When I got home in the evenings they’d be sitting together on the sofa. They never argued, they watched television. At first the commercial breaks allowed a bit of time for personal questions – his part-time work in a computer shop, my choice of study – but our conversation quickly narrowed to a mumbled “How was your day?” Until one evening he asked, “Why aren’t you in a relationship? After all, you’re a nice girl.” It seems there was a connection between “being nice” and “being in a relationship”.’
simone van saarloos (b. 1990) studied literature and philosophy in Amsterdam. She is a freelance writer and a columnist for Vrij Nederland. In 2015 a collection of her columns was published under the title I’m Good / Not Good. 30
Simone van Saarloos The Monogamy Drama A plea for a totally different way of looking at love and intimacy The growth in the number of single people is often interpreted as a symptom of individualization and a fear of commitment of epidemic proportions. People are assumed to be ‘shopping around’ for someone to love and suffering the stress that comes with choice. They lack devotion and fail to show commitment, we are told. Instead of seeing exclusive relationships as the ultimate in connectivity, Simone van Saarloos wonders how we can live in relationships in an individual manner. In The Monogamy Drama she claims that singles are improving the world: they spread their social risk, enter into varied relationships and practice diversity. Freedom is something you celebrate in connection with others. Being single is not a transitional phase or a temporary status, it is an art. Simply forget about regarding monogamous relationships as the norm and try to build relationships in other ways, she argues.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Literary non-fiction • 128 pages • 2015 31
cargo
commercial fiction
NOMINATED FOR THE GOLDEN NOOSE AWARD ‘Drone is a real pageturner with thrilling action, sound characterization and conspiracy theories that turn out to be less bad than the truth.’ ***** – de telegraaf ‘A thriller that has what it takes to become one of the best of 2016: action, excitement, espionage, intrigue, and all of it in an excellent plot with well-explored characters. With Drone Kazemier has at a stroke made a place for himself among the Netherlands’ best thriller authors.’ ***** – de thriller
bart-jan kazemier (b. 1979) graduated in linguistics at the University of Groningen and works as a lecturer in Dutch in international education. He is the author of the enthusiastically received thriller The Man in the Middle.
Bart-Jan Kazemier Drone A thriller that exposes the hard reality of the drone Young, ambitious Minister of Defence Ava Rodenburg has her back to the wall. Parliament has unexpectedly decided not to support the purchase of a new type of drone. What few people know is that the contracts with the American armaments manufacturer, worth billions, were signed quite some time ago. The deal must go through or financial sanctions will result that might well topple the government. Ava does all she can to convince the leader of the largest opposition party. Former soldier Eliot Kohler is approached by Miriam Veltman, the sister of one of his deceased fellow combatants. She has a hard drive with extremely sensitive data on it and she needs Eliot’s help. She never gets the chance to hand over the material; she meets with an accident on the way. For Eliot this marks the start of a search for data that, he suspects, will help him to straighten out a terrible event in his past. But military intelligence is also on the trail of Miriam’s harddrive. The quest takes Eliot to Afghanistan, pursued by military intelligence. Eliot has become an enemy of the state. World rights: Cargo • English sample translation available • thriller 336 pages • February 2016
32
33
cargo
commercial fiction
Translated by Jane Hedley-Prole
ava She looked out of the window. The grand old banks and ministries that had been built in the 1920s to give the city international allure had been demolished long ago and replaced by glass towers designed by architects from Hong Kong and Doha. These days, all the European cities she visited looked the same. She couldn’t get used to it. After two years as a back-bencher in the Netherlands she’d been posted to America as a chargé d’affaires, to oversee trade missions to the us. That was followed by four gruelling years in Brussels and Strasbourg. Eventually she moved back to the States, settling in Washington. She married a businessman from Chicago – a calculating move. The marriage lasted less than a year, but provided her with connections to a great many business tycoons. When the Dutch government had fallen earlier that year, after almost two months of doomed negotiations, she was rung by the party chairman, wanting to know if she’d be interested in standing for election. She would be number two on the party list. It was three in the morning in the Netherlands, but he sounded as energetic as ever. She didn’t hesitate, but hinted at what she’d want after the elections. She wasn’t prepared to give up the comforts of Washington unless he could offer something big in exchange. Mel took the hint. He agreed, on condition that she did the party a favour in return: take on responsibility for a very important project. During the campaign she soon got a lot of media exposure, despite having been away for seven years. In fact her star rose faster than the Prime Minister’s. Because of her father, of course, but her looks undeniably
34
helped: in the male-dominated world of politics, a blonde woman with full lips, expressive eyes and a good dress sense had a definite advantage. A smile in the right direction, a provocative comment, a captivating pose – whether or not staged – worked wonders. The cameras greedily zoomed in on her, and the Prime Minister was happy to take advantage of the situation. She was struck by how often they’d been photographed together, how often he had nonchalantly put his hand on her shoulder or her back. He’d grabbed the chance to bask in her reflected light. She’d had three relationships during her time in the Netherlands: an actor, a press photographer and a freelance journalist. They were all much of a muchness – although each had something to offer, they lacked the strength to give her the counterweight she needed. Her job always ended up getting in the way. They felt upstaged. As the actor put it, ‘You keep sweeping me aside, Ava, I can’t handle this anymore. In fact, you scare me a bit.’ And she got what he meant. She had a top degree in political science and international relations, had been dubbed one of the fifty most influential women in Europe, and knew everybody who was worth knowing in Brussels. That had helped her party to a resounding victory, and had got her the most important ministerial post in the second Stahlman government. So there weren’t any men who felt able to take her on. She pressed her index finger on the screen, re-activating the tablet. ‘Speech. Today. Final version,’ she said aloud. ‘Standard reading speed.’ Her voice started to come out of the tablet. It sounded uncannily real. She leaned back against the chair’s headrest and shut her eyes.
35
cargo
commercial fiction
‘An intense and interesting book with well-developed characters and fascinating storylines that continually keeps the reader enthralled.’ **** – hebban ‘Dittrich is following in the footsteps of great – de volkskrant
writers.’
‘Topical, urgent, thrilling.’ Qualified as Book of the Month - zin ‘A fine plot and wonderful characters make W.O.L.F. a delicious thriller.’ **** – algemeen dagblad boris o. dittrich (b. 1955) worked as a lawyer in Amsterdam and as a judge in Alkmaar and was for many years a member of parliament and chair of the political party D66. Since 2007 he has worked for Human Rights Watch, first in New York and since 2013 in Berlin. He is the author of the thrillers Murder and Fire and Lying the Truth, which were given an enthusiastic reception.
Boris O. Dittrich W.O.L.F. If extremism leads to murder then anything goes. ‘The head had been in a red plastic bag from the German supermarket Rewe. The chain’s slogan, Besser Leben, shouted from the plastic in white letters: live better. It took a few seconds for Wenzel to realize that he was out in the park. And that he had stumbled across a head without a body. His heart started racing, he gasped for breath. The blood pounded in his ears.’ A head has been found in a plastic bag in a Berlin park and the police force is on edge. Who is the victim? Are terrorists involved? Chief of Police Fatima Oztürk leads the investigation into an organization calling itself W.O.L.F., which is carrying out a campaign of violence against both Jews and Muslims. But why is her friend and colleague Gerhard keeping his distance from the investigation? When an anonymous witness suddenly comes forward, Fatima makes a shocking discovery that confronts her with a difficult personal choice.
World rights: Cargo • thriller • 398 pages • January 2016 36
37
cargo
commercial fiction
‘Corine Hartman belongs among the top Dutch writers.’ – de telegraaf
thriller
‘Blistering psychological thriller.’ – marie claire ‘Corine Hartman is working on a hard-boiled oeuvre in the style of Karin Slaughter.’ – elsevier
corine hartman (b. 1964) has written more than fifteen thrillers. A Fit of Insanity is the first of them to be based on a family tragedy that took place in real life.
Corine Hartman A Fit of Insanity ‘I’d do anything for her, anything, always. She only needs to say the word and I’ll come running. I can’t believe she’s simply saying, “I’m leaving you.” That’s just not on. I’ll do anything I can to prevent it. Anything.’ Every year some forty people in the Netherlands are killed by their partners. Over the past ten years roughly two hundred and fifty children have lost a biological parent in this way. To the outside world they are a perfect family: Anthonie and Romée van Baerle and their three children. They live in a nice detached house with a swimming pool. He is a successful entrepreneur, she a devoted yoga teacher. But then Anthonie is told by his wife that she’s going to leave him. Romée has fallen in love with someone else and wants to live alone for a while to distance herself. That very night, Anthonie murders his wife. This is his story. And hers.
World rights: Cargo • thriller based on a family drama • 286 pages • 2016 38
39
oog & blik
graphic novel
Judith Vanistendael, Mark Bellido Mikel Strip based on a true story about a bodyguard in the Basque country
judith vanistendael (b. 1974) is a Belgian comic strip artist and illustrator. In 2007 the first part of her successful album The Virgin and the Negro was published, called Papa and Sofie. Part Two, Leentje and Sofie appeared in 2009 and again generated a great deal of press attention. The diptych has been translated into seven languages. In 2012 the successful and monumental When David Lost his Voice was published, and in 2015 a book of the drawings she made on a walk, pilgrimage or otherwise, to Santiago de Compostela.
The Basque country, Spain. A green paradise with wild beaches on the Atlantic coast, but also a mountainous area of sombre villages and drizzle, tormented for years by eta terrorism. Based on Mark Bellido’s autobiographical story, Judith Vanistendael has created an impressive graphic novel about a seller of sweets who decides to become a bodyguard. While protecting threatened politicians he moves further and further into a shadow existence that ultimately threatens to be fatal for him.
mark bellido (b. 1975) is the author of books including a novel (Venus vestida de azul) and the graphic novel El Mesías (in collaboration with Wauteur Mannaert). He spent four years protecting Basque politicians against eta. World rights: Oog & Blik. Rights sold: Les editions du Lombard (France), norma Editorial (Spain)• graphic novel • 368 pages • September 2016 40
41
cargo
successful titles
‘A well-written story that will make any doctor stop and think about the experiences of a patient.’ – medisch contact ‘The book is sometimes shocking: acquaintances who withdraw, care workers who show little understanding, and your own realization that you are no longer the same person. But what An Error in My Head articulates above all is hope.’ – algemeen dagblad ‘Initially Simonne was writing for Julie, to describe to her daughter the chaos that surrounded her when she came into the world. But gradually the idea emerged for a book in which patients and those close to them could find insights into what happens when someone suffers a stroke. In that the author has succeeded admirably.’ – den haag centraal
simonne van gennip (b. 1974) was working as a journalist when hit by a stroke. She was heavily pregnant with her first child. She now lives with her family in Voorburg and works as editor-in-chief of Straatnieuws.
Simonne van Gennip An Error in My Head Seven months pregnant and you suffer a stroke
Simonne is seven months pregnant when she suffers a stroke. A single-minded journalist in the midst of life, she is abruptly transformed into a patient who can do nothing and has to learn to speak, write, eat and walk again. Imprisoned in her own recalcitrant body she also has to take care of her baby. Struggling with questions about the future, her husband, her stepdaughters and friends, she learns to live an independent life.
World Rrights: Cargo • Rights sold: Bastei Lübbe (Germany) • Memoir 208 pages • 2014 42
43
thomas rap
successful titles
‘Stern is faultlessly written novel. Impressive. We’re eagerly looking forward to the future of this young writer. Thomas Heerma van Voss: remember that name boys and girls.’ **** – nrc handelsblad ‘Stern is a disquieting novel. The power of this writer lies in his control, timing, and adult themes.’ **** – de volkskrant ‘This writer has a great
deal to offer.’ – vrij nederland
‘Magnificent how Heerma van Voss portrays loneliness. The young writer shows a keen understanding of human relationships.’ – trouw
thomas heerma van voss (b. 1990) is the author of The Everything Table (2009) and of the much praised novel Stern (2013). His stories, essays and articles have appeared in nrc . next, Vrij Nederland, Trouw, De Gids, Tirade, Das Magazin and Passionate.
Thomas Heerma van Voss Stern Disturbing and witty novel about a man confronted with the emptiness of his existence
Hugo Stern has never succeeded in bonding with other people. An only child, he grew up alone with his mother. In one telling episode, when he is a student in London he befriends a Korean who never ever says anything – they go to the movies together and stare at the screen. Back in the Netherlands, Stern marries. He and his wife have a baby who dies soon after birth and they adopt a Korean child, giving him the same forename as their own. The story reaches a climax when the son, who has turned eighteen, wants to visit his native country. Stern is torn by separation anxiety, the memory of his friend in London who never answered his letters and his inability to press his child to his chest, all of which culminates in a heart- rending final scene at the airport.
World rights: Thomas Rap • Rights sold: Schöffling Verlag (Germany) • Novel 217 pages • 2013 44
45
oog de bezige & blikbij
successful titles
‘…if Harry [Mulisch] had been able to draw, he would have done it like this!’ – Kitty Saal (Harry Mulisch’s widow)
Milan Hulsing and Harry Mulisch The Assault
On Mulisch’s The Assault:
A graphic adaptation of one of Dutch literature’s timeless modern classics
‘A dark fable about design and accident, strength and weakness, and the ways in which guilt and innocence can overlap and intermingle.’ – the new york times
‘album of the year’, official prize of the comics society Since 1982, when The Assault by Harry Mulisch was first published, 750,000 copies have been sold in the Netherlands and Flemish-speaking Belgium alone. Internationally the book was highly praised and met with commercial success in many countries. In 1986 the film adaption of the book was awarded the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film - a first in Dutch cinematic history. In May 2015 a colourful and idiosyncratic graphic novel will be published, based on this modern classic. Awardwinning artist Milan Hulsing ma nages to combine Harry Mulisch’s lucid narrative with dark but often colourful drawings that perfectly reflect the atmosphere of this richly rewarding book.
milan hulsing (1973) graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. His drawings and cartoon strips have appeared in the vpro tv guide, Hollands Maandblad and the Algemeen Dagblad. He twice won a Stripschapspenning Award and has created animations for films. His most recent graphic novel, Stad van klei (City of Clay), was extremely well received by reviewers and translation rights have been sold to several countries. 46
harry mulisch (1927-2010) wrote novels, stories and essays that won him countless literary prizes and honours. Part of the literary universe he left has been published in more than thirtysix languages.
The Assault tells the exciting and tra gic story of Anton Steenwijk, who loses his father, mother and brother at a young age in a German reprisal for the killing of a policeman. In adult life he seeks out those involved in an effort to discover what really happened.
World rights: Oog & Blik • Graphic novel, full-colour, 160 pages • 2015 47
de bezige bij
successful titles
NOMINATED FOR THE FINTRO LITERATURE AWARD AND THE ANV DEBUTANT PRIZE
Hagar Peeters Malva
‘Incandescent and evocative debut novel. ... Beautifully melancholy closing chord that fully testifies to the power, solace and poetry of the imagination in general
Debut novel about the world-famous poet Pablo Neruda’s daughter Malva, a child not allowed to exist
and this dazzling novel in particular.’ – trouw ‘Peeters cleverly unravels the myth surrounding Neruda without knocking him off his pedestal. Written, as befits a poet, in language that sparkles.’ – jan hagar peeters (b. 1972) has published several volumes of poetry: Enough Poems Written About Love Today (1999), Suitcases of Sea Air (2003), Runner of Light (2008) and Maturity (2011). She has won awards including the J.C. Bloem Poetry Prize, the Jo Peters Poetry Prize and the Poetry Day Prize, and was shortlisted for the position of Dutch Poet Laureate.
Malva is the daughter of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. She was born with hydrocephalus and soon disowned by her father. She lived in a foster family in the Netherlands and died during the Second World War at the age of eight. Hagar Peeters has Malva, after her death, pick up the pen that her father let slip from his hand when he died. She gives the girl a voice, and a fascinating life in which she meets kindred spirits with whom, as wise as she is witty, she comments on life on earth. Along with them, Malva tries to find an answer to the question of how it came about that Neruda, the irreproachable hero who stood up for the forgotten and downtrodden, denied the existence of his own daughter. She asks Hagar Peeters, whose father was a journalist in Chile when Neruda died, to be her ghost writer.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Actes Sud (France), Rey Naranjo (World Spanish) • English and Spanish sample available Novel, 245 pages • 2015 48
49
cargo
successful titles
NOMINATED FOR THE GOLDEN NOOSE AWARD ‘Death’s Head Moth stands way out from the crowd and will give readers a taste for more of the same from this improbable writing duo.’ – ***** ad magazine
‘A captivating thriller – hard to put down, that’s for sure.’ – vn thriller- & detective gids ‘Anyone who doesn’t read this book this summer is missing something. Highly recommended, with all the best ingredients. It has a strong storyline full of surprises, it capitalizes on current affairs to an extraordinary degree and both authors use wonderfully expressive language.’ – entertainding In his thrillers tomas ross (b. 1944) balances on the dividing line between fact and fiction. He has written more than forty books, winning the Gouden Strop Prize three times, and has worked as a scriptwriter on highly acclaimed Dutch television series and films. corine hartman (b. 1964) worked as a scriptwriter for many years and has fifteen thrillers to her name. Her books are famed for their tough action sequences and fascinating characters. She has been nominated for the Gouden Strop a number of times and has won several Crimezone Awards. 50
Ross & Hartman Death’s Head Moth A thought-provoking and ingeniously plotted thriller, an unique collaboration between two of the biggest selling Dutch crime-writers May 2015. A Dutch nato diplomat disappears on a secret mission and with him a butterfly guide with codes goes missing. The trail initially leads to the Italian Mafia and to Greece. nato chief director Charles Cavendish has more than thirty years of experience in the secret service and he decides to put together an unusual team: secret agent Adam Kaplan, who is trying to come to terms with the tragic death of his wife, and Carrie Montevagio, an inexperienced and spirited Sicilian who fled her native village years ago and has been in hiding in the Netherlands ever since. Her contacts with the Mafia could help her find the missing diplomat – but returning to Sicily will certainly put her life in danger.
World rights: Cargo • Rights sold: Piper (Germany) • Thriller 356 pages • 2015 51
de bezige bij
successful titles
NOMINATED FOR THE BRUSSE PRIZE (BEST JOURNALISTIC PUBLICATION) ‘In This is My Farm, De Stoop lifts a personal story up out of a boggy polder in Zeeland to a level that touches us all. … Born storyteller De Stoop joins a great and rich tradition of writers such as John Steinbeck, John Berger, Geert Mak and Frank Westerman.’ – de morgen ‘It is a beautiful and poignant book.’ – de volkskrant ‘A modern j'accuse. De Stoop masterfully evokes the melancholy expanse of the disappearing polders, the farmers’ pain, the unequal struggle against the port and the nature conservation movement.’ – gazet van antwerpen
52
chris de stoop (b. 1958) is an author and a journalist for the Flemish weekly Knack. In 2004 he was awarded the Golden Owl Readers’ Prize for She Came from the East. In 2010 he wrote Peace Be With You, Sister, about the first Jihadists to leave for Syria and Iraq. With his debut They’re So Sweet, Sir (1992) he became the first to write the inside story of the international trafficking of women, a bombshell of a book that caused great commotion at home and abroad.
Chris de Stoop This is My Farm In this heartrending personal account, a centuries-old farming landscape vanishes before your eyes The Hedwige Polder, the most famous stretch of reclaimed land in the Belgian lowlands, is to be flooded again no matter what. It has become symbolic of old farmland forced to make way for new nature reserves. Nothing could touch the local population more deeply. Chris de Stoop, himself a farmer’s son from the area, returns to his parents’ farm, which is suddenly unoccupied. While running the farm, he looks at the changed landscape around him. He is the kind of person who can go into raptures over a comely cow, or wax lyrical about a freshly ploughed field. He looks back at the farming life that made the land what it has been for a thousand years. The disappearance of the farmer is a Europe-wide phenomenon, but nowhere is it as distressing as it is here. De Stoop watches the bulldozers advance, demo lishing centuries-old farmhouses to create ‘new nature’ as compensation for the expansion of industry.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Fischer (Germany), Shanghai '99 (China) • English sample available • Literary non-fiction, 286 pages • 2015 53
de bezige bij
successful titles
‘The political book of the year.’ – humo ‘Van Reybrouck lays a finger on the one-sided nature of our diploma democracy. In dazzling language he prompts us to think about many experimental attempts to break through defeatism and impasses. With his compelling advocacy of sortition, he succeeds in laying bare the wear and tear from which democracy is suffering.’**** – nrc handelsblad
‘Enlightening.’ – de standaard ‘A real page-turner. He analyses the malaise of democracy cleverly and concisely, and puts forward solution.’ – denkwijzer
david van reybrouck (b. 1971) is a journalist, a writer of literary non-fiction, a poet and a playwright. He made his debut in 2001 with the award-winning The Plague. His greatest success is Congo, a History, for which he received a slew of national and international prizes including the Libris History Prize 2010, the Jan Greshoff Prize 2010 and the ako Literature Prize 2010. The book was a runaway success in Germany, France and Norway and was translated into many languages. A Plea for Populism won him the Jan Hanlo Essay Prize 2009 and the Flemish Cultural Prize for Criticism and the Essay 2009. 2013 saw the publication of Against Elections, an urgent call for the reform of democracy, which has been sold to ten countries to date. 54
David Van Reybrouck Against Elections An urgent call for reform that seeks to breathe new life into democracy Our democracy is suffering from anorexia. Whereas it once fed on various forms of participation, these days it tries to survive on the thin gruel of a puny ritual: elections. We are neglecting our democracy at a time when the world is undergoing radical change. The traditional pillars of society are disappearing, people are better educated, information travels faster, the media have become much more commercial and social media are creating new forms of political awareness. All this demands more involvement, meaningful participation and greater transparency. David Van Reybrouck, who founded the successful citizens’ initiative g 1000 in Belgium, examines new ways of revitalizing our impotent democracy and involving citizens in everything that concerns us in society. Here he issues an urgent call for change. World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Wallstein Verlag (Germany), The Bodley Head (World English), Social Sciences Academic Press (China), Tiderne Skifter (Denmark), Actes Sud (France), Feltrinelli (Italy), Galapagos (Korea), Font Forlag (Norway) and Natur och Kultur (Sweden) • Political non-fiction full English translation available, 174 pages, 2013 55
de bezige bij
successful titles
‘Experience, common sense and audacity: those are the qualities that characterize psychiatrist Paul Verhaeghe, who with Authority once again delivers an urgent message.’ **** – ad magazine ‘The strength of Authority lies in its breadth. Verhaeghe connects, with apparent ease and in an accessible style, issues in all kinds of areas and at all levels, from poor upbringing [...] to macroeconomic developments and the crisis of authority in politics.’ **** – leeuwarder courant ‘Verhaeghe has an important message. Everyone who is professionally concerned about authority – teachers, doctors and police officers, but above all politicians – should read his book.’ – trouw Clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst paul verhaeghe is head of the psychoanalytical department at the University of Ghent. With his books Between Hysteria and Woman (1996) and On Being Normal and Other Disorders (2002) he gained international recognition as an expert on Freud and Lacan. He acquired a broad readership with Love in a Time of Loneliness (1998, updated 2011) and The End of Psychotherapy (2009), while The Effects on Identity of a Neoliberal Meritocracy won him a prize for the best essay of 2011 from Liberales. The American edition of On Being Normal and Other Disorders (2002) was awarded the Goethe Prize. His latest work What About Me? The struggle for identity in a market-based society was published in German, English, Chinese, Korean and Slovenian. 56
Paul Verhaeghe Authority An encouraging and much-needed appeal to give a new, modern interpretation to authority A great deal is going wrong these days when it comes to authority. Politics and religion have lost their credibility and parents can no longer control the behaviour of their children. In this book Paul Verhaeghe investigates how authority functions, why so little value is placed on it nowadays and what the alternative might be. Attempts to restore the authority of the past are destined to fail and they quickly degenerate into forms of pure power play. As a society we are at a crossroads, with power in one direction and new authority in the other. Verhaeghe seeks and finds a new interpretation in groups, which lend authority to an individual or an institution, whether they be parents’ associations, groups of active citizens or shareholders’ meetings. This shift is well un derway in childrearing and edu cation, politics and economics, and it is producing great results.
World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Kunstmann (Germany), Scribe (World English) • English sample translation available • Literary non-fiction, 272 pages • 2015 57
de bezige bij
successful titles
‘Verhofstadt’s point is fundamental: Europe has globalized everything, except for politics. If governments don’t put this right, Europe is lost. This book is politically essential.’ *** – nrc handelsblad ‘In Europe’s Last Chance the author mercilessly dissects the poor results of more than half a century of united Europe.’ – zwolsche courant ‘The sacred fire of a United States of Europe burns as fiercely in Verhofstadt as it ever did, as his latest book makes clear.’ – humo
From 1999 to 2008, guy verhofstadt was prime minister of Belgium. He is now a member of the European Parliament, where he leads the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (alde). In 2005 he wrote The United States of Europe, which was translated into twelve languages and awarded the inaugural European Book Prize in 2007. In 2009 it was followed by the publication of both his political essay A New Age of Empires and his book The Way out of the Crisis, in which he analyses the economic crisis and formulates a concrete solution. In 2012, along with Daniel Cohn-Bendit, he published the political pamphlet For Europe!
58
Guy Verhofstadt Europe´s Last Chance Why the European States Must Form a More Perfect Union Europe’s Last Chance is an acute analysis of the (dis)func tioning of the eu and a passionate plea for change Europe’s Last Chance is a no-holds-barred report on a once ambitious European project that has degenerated into an institutional quagmire. It includes a multitude of political anecdotes and personal stories that take the reader behind the scenes. Europe still imagines itself to be the moral centre of the world, yet our foreign policy is conspicuous for its cowar dice, the Mediterranean is developing into a migrants’ graveyard and we have yet to succeed in overcoming the economic crisis. The world looks at us with pity. ‘Piecemeal small-mindedness, in 28 national iterations,’ sneered The New York Times. Guy Verhofstadt sees a solution in a big leap forward in European integration. It need not result in the creation of a superstate, but it does need to produce a more efficient and democratic Europe. He returns to the wise words of Europe’s founding fathers, brushing off and touching up the forgotten European constitution of 1952. World rights: De Bezige Bij (except world English translation rights represented by The Wylie Agency) • Rights sold: Basic Books (World English), Plon/Marque Belge (France), Editura Comunicare (Rumania), Papadopoulos (Greece) Full English and French translation available • Political non-fiction, 286 pages • 2015 59
de bezige bij
preview 2016
FOUR ESTEEMED NOVELISTS LINED UP FOR THIS AUTUMN
Stefan Hertmans The Convert of Monieux
Margriet de Moor The Birds
Marcel Möring Eden
Peter Terrin Yucca
France, 1090. A young Christian woman falls in love with a Jewish boy. Their secret relationship is discovered and they have to flee her father’s fury. They travel more than a thousand kilometres, a journey full of hardships, pursued by knights sent by her father. It is the start of a thrilling and sensory tale about pogroms, crusaders, and the death and destruction left in their wake. Stefan Hertmans, author of the international bestseller War and Turpentine, based the story of The Convert of Monieux on historical facts, including a letter of recommendation from a rabbi, written on parchment, and he brings the middle ages to life with immense imagination and stylistic ingenuity. This is the story of three religions and a world going through massive change, a story of hope, love and hatred, a novel about a woman who can be certain of one thing: at home the death penalty awaits.
In The Birds Marie-Lina gets into a fight with another woman, next to a building site in front of Amsterdam’s Central Station. The rage she has carried within her for years bursts out at that moment. Marie-Lina’s intends to hurt the woman who ruined her mother’s life. Line by line, paragraph by paragraph, in almost poetic style, the background to this act of aggres sion is revealed. Slowly but surely the tension mounts, and gradually a very precise and sympathetic portrait of all those involved emerges.
Eden is the story of a nameless child who grows up a forest so big and extensive that he has no knowledge of the world beyond it. The reader watches as he flees one day from an act he did not commit. In a psychiatric hospital a patient commits suicide. Another patient, found as if dead in city woodland, no longer knows who he is. And there is the mysterious Stephanie, too, who on the face of it has nothing wrong with her. Psychiatrist Mendel Adenauer sees his institution as the place where society’s driftwood washes up and he wonders whether he is right to think that people and the world can be healed.
Is a man still a father if his child is no longer alive? That is the question Viktor asks himself when he is released from prison after eleven years. He barely recognizes the world that once condemned him for the death of his child. Renée, a woman of twenty-nine, addresses her thoughts to her young son. When she was four she survived a cerebral infarction and at nine she discovered her magical powers. Now, in 2035, she is an immensely wealthy artist. Her work changes countless human lives, whereas her life is lonely and threatened. In 1985 Renée’s grandfather, a police inspector, witnesses the last and bloodiest terror attack by The Gang. From the car park in front of the supermarket he sees something no one else notices. Thirty years later he has one last chance to prove he was right. Sentence by sentence, as only Peter Terrin can, he spins a web around the reader.
November 2016 • Novel • 260 pages
With The Birds Margriet de Moor once again proves her mastery. September 2016 • Novel • 340 pages
Eden brings together all the themes of Möring’s work: futile memory, madness and chaos. October 2016 • Novel • 500 pages
September 2016 • Novel • 400 pages 60
61
recently filmed
Beyond Sleep to the novel Nooit meer slapen by W.F. Hermans Produced by Key Film. Launched January 2016 as opening film of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Selected translations: Aufbau (Germany), Yilin (China), Overlook Press (usa), HarvillSecker (uk), Adelphi (Italy), Huma (Estonia), Kinneret (Israel), Jelenkor (Hungary), Didakta (Slovenia), Gyldendal Norsk (Norway), Tusquets (Spain), Host (Czechia), Norstedts (Sweden) ‘Hermans is one of the most important European authors of the second half of the twentieth century.’ – Cees Nooteboom 62
Knielen op een bed violen (In My Father’s Garden) to the bestselling novel by Jan Siebelink Produced by nl film&tv. Launched February 2016. Selected translations (full English translation available): Arche; dtv (Germany), Tiderne Skifter (Denmark), Marsilio (Italy), Kastaniotis (Greece, in preparation) ‘A truly majestic novel. Who reads this book without feeling a lump in his throat, is no human being.’ – elsevier
De helleveeg (The Hellcat) to the novel by A.F.Th. van der Heijden Produced by Sigma Picture Productions. Launched March 2016. Translations: Suhrkamp (Germany, in preparation as ‘Das Biest’) ‘The Hellcat is a feast of anecdotes. And, after Tonio, a miracle.’ – vrij nederland
de bezige bij at the london book fair 2016
Henk Prรถpper Director/ Publisher Francien Schuursma Deputy director Peter van der Zwaag p.van.der.zwaag@debezigebij.nl Editor-in-chief translated fiction De Bezige Bij and Oog & Blik
Catharina Schilder c.schilder@debezigebij.nl Editor De Bezige Bij non-fiction Marjolein Schurink m.schurink@debezigebij.nl Editor-in-chief Cargo Arend Hosman a.hosman@thomasrap.nl Editor-in-chief Thomas Rap
Chris Kooi c.kooi@debezigebij.nl Editor translated fiction De Bezige Bij and Cargo
Marijke Nagtegaal m.nagtegaal@debezigebij.nl Foreign rights manager
Haye Koningsveld h.koningsveld@debezigebij.nl Editor-in-chief De Bezige Bij non-fiction
Uta Matten u.matten@debezigebij.nl Foreign rights manager
Van Miereveldstraat 1-3 | nl-1071 dw Amsterdam | P.O. Box 75184 | nl-1070 ad Amsterdam | The Netherlands | tel +31 20 305 98 10 | fax +31 20 305 98 24 For the latest (foreign) rights news, please visit us in the International Rights Centre (24q and 25q)