Foreign Rights List 2012 by De Bezige Bij

忙碌的蜜蜂出版社 De Bezige Bij The Busy Bee

De Bezige Bij Publishers • Thomas Rap Publishers • Cargo Publishers • Balans Publishers Van Miereveldstraat 1 • nl-1071 dw Amsterdam • Postbus 75184 • nl-1070 ad Amsterdam The Netherlands • tel +31 20 305 9810 • fax +31 (0)20 305 9824 Foreign Rights Contact: Hayo Deinum via h.deinum@debezigebij.nl

publishing house de bezige bij www.debezigebij.nl

translation rights beijing 2012 content fiction Peter Buwalda Margriet de Moor Ernest van der Kwast Joost Conijn

Bonita Avenue The Painter and the Girl Giovannaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Navel The Pilot of Good and Evil

non-fiction Paul Verhaeghe Jan Caeyers David van Reybrouck Pieter Winsemius

Identity Beethoven. A Biography Congo. A History Coincidence is Only Logical

oog & blik Typex

Rembrandt

Translation rights De Bezige Bij Beijing 2012, contact h.deinum@debezigebij.nl ÂŠ text De Bezige Bij

peter buwalda bonita avenue * An impressive, hefty debut novel about the downfall of an ambitious family Over 230,000 copies sold • Sold to Rowohlt (Germany), Actes Sud (France), Mondadori (Italy), Pushkin Press (UK/US), Odeon (Czech Republic) and Salamandra (Spain) • More than one year in the Dutch Best Seller list • Winner of the Academica Debut Prize 2011 • Winner of the Selexyz Debut Prize 2010 • Winner of the Tzum Prize 2010 • Shortlisted for the Libris and ako Literature Prize 2011, the Dutch Gold Dagger Award 2011 and the Flemish Gold Dagger 2011, and the ns reader’s Award 2011 • English sample translation available • World rights: De Bezige Bij • Novel, 544 pages Joni Sigerius, stepdaughter of the rector of a University, and her boyfriend Aaron, run a little business that she prefers to keep secret from her dynamic and brilliant father. It is in the year that a fireworks catastrophe vanishes a complete residential quarter in the city, that the explosion takes place within the family as well. Not only do Joni and Aaron find themselves in dire straits, but it is also in this same summer that Sigerius Sr.’s only real son is released from prison. Only eight years later – by which time Joni is running a million-dollar business in Los Angeles – does Aaron find out what was really going on in 2000.

peter buwalda (b. 1971) worked as a journalist and editor for the literary pop music magazine Wahwah. His stories have been published in Hollands Maandblad and De Gids. On Bonita Avenue: ‘Already in the first chapter Buwalda portrays the convincing character of a cad with a turn for mathematics and an obsession for judo… Buwalda has an easy going style, clear and precise, and completely unpretentious.’ – de groene amsterdammer ‘Outstanding read. Bold language and content. Bonita Avenue is a book which deserves a large audience.’ – hp | de tijd ‘Buwalda is one of those rare authors who absolutely hit the mark with their very first novel. Its stylistic virtuosity is at the service of a moving family tragedy and a wealth of penetrating observations and insights. Astounding.’ – de volkskrant

Translation rights De Bezige Bij Beijing 2012, contact h.deinum@debezigebij.nl © text De Bezige Bij

margriet de moor the painter and the girl * On an unfortunate girl and a man unable to express his true feelings, the brilliant painter Rembrandt 40,000 copies sold • Sold to Hanser (Germany), Turbine Forlaget (Denmark), Maren Sell (France), Neri Pozza (Italy), Folio (Ukraine), Studentska Zalozba (Slovenia), Pistorius (Czech Republic), Fraktura (Croatia) and Dogan Kitap (Turkey) • Full German translation available • World rights: De Bezige Bij • Novel, 254 pages It is May 3, 1664, the day that an eighteen-yearold girl from Denmark is publicly garroted on the Dam in Amsterdam. Half the city has turned out to see the execution. The painter of the novel’s title has no desire to attend. His thoughts are occupied by his recently deceased wife and an important canvas which he has set up and for which he has bought the materials that same morning: red and golden pigments. Later that day he hears from his son the grisly details of the girl’s last moments, and he rows to the place where she has been hung.

margriet de moor (b. 1941) is one the most important Dutch female authors. First Grey, then White, then Blue won the AKO Literature Prize in 1992. Her work has been translated into 24 languages. The Painter and the Girl is her first novel with De Bezige Bij. On Margriet de Moor: ‘She writes lyrical prose, and her stories about life are quiet and full of beauty.’ – Marcel Reich-Ranicki ‘Margriet de Moor sketches the philosophical ferment lightly but effectively, giving just the right amount of political and historical detail.’ – new york times On The Painter and the Girl: ‘An extremely rich novel on death, imagination and eternity.’ – nrc handelsblad ‘Another novel about art. But a great one. Margriet de Moor takes a big risk – and wins.’ … ‘It is, as ever in her work, about the relationship between life and art. An equally bold and terrific novel .’ – frankfurter rundschau

Translation rights De Bezige Bij Beijing 2012, contact h.deinum@debezigebij.nl © text De Bezige Bij

ernest van der kwast giovanna ’ s navel * Impressive stories situated in the raw Northern Italian landscape

Sold to ISBN Edizioni (Italy) • English sample translation available • World rights: De Bezige Bij • Novella and 4 short stories, 160 pages July 1945, a hot summer’s day on the beach of San Cataldo, in the heel of Italy. Two brothers lie side by side, staring at the girls parading on the beach, firmly packed in swimsuits. Until the twenty-year-old Giovanna Berlucchi appears in the surf. In a two-piece swimming costume. For Ezio this is the beginning of a lifelong obsession. An obsession which drives him from his home town to the far north of Italy. At the end of his life he takes one last train, back to the south. In an elegant, smooth style Ernest van der Kwast describes Ezio’s life. A life determined by small coincidences, impulsive decisions and one missed opportunity. In the four stories that frame this novella, the characters also look back. It makes Giovanna’s Navel a small series of touching portraits, situated in the raw Northern Italian landscape.

ernest van der kwast (b. 1981) was born in Bombay, India. He made his début in 2005 with the novel Sometimes Things Are More Beautiful When People Are Clapping. Under the name Sieger Sloot he published the novel Stand-in (2007). He was also co-responsible for the stories Man Seeking Woman To Make Him Happy, which appeared under the name Yusuf El-Halal. His autobiographical novel Mama Tandoori is a bestseller and has been successfully adapted for theatre. Van der Kwast lives in South Tyrol, the most northern part of Italy. On Giovanna’s Navel: ‘Ernest van der Kwast, known as a cross between Borat and Grunberg, who wrote about the hilarious traits of his Indian mother in Mama Tandoori, sings a very different tune in his new book. In a novella and four stories that seem to be inspired by Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, he writes more subdued and gentle, but above all very convincing about the unattainable love and missed opportunities, and proves to be a romantic who is extremely well versed in the rhythm of melancholy.’ – knack focus

Translation rights De Bezige Bij Beijing 2012, contact h.deinum@debezigebij.nl © text De Bezige Bij

joost conijn the pilot of good and evil * The breathtaking journey of an idiosyncratic pilot Publication: September 2012 • World rights: De Bezige Bij • Illustrated Novel, 256 pages ‘A plane is made for the air; you build the road yourself as you go along, long straightaways or graceful curves. High in the sky you oversee the whole world.’ In his home-built airplane, Joost Conijn chose to follow a route no one else had ever taken. Starting in Europe, he flew over Africa and so visited the most remote parts of the jungle. He landed on ragged stretches of asphalt and was given food and a place to sleep by the amazed locals, to whom it seemed he had literally dropped in out of the blue. At the mercy of his plane’s construction, the mood swings of local authorities and the elements, Joost Conijn made a marvelous journey. And thanks to his razor-sharp powers of observation and his wonderful literary style, that journey has been preserved for posterity.

joost conijn (b. Amsterdam, 1971) is a visual artist, filmmaker and writer. His work has made the longlist for the Prix de Rome and he has been awarded the Charlotte Köhler Prize and the Cobra Art Prize. His work has been displayed at shows at the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam, at Watou in Belgium and at the Biënnale in Venice. ‘In a plane fashioned from dreams and scrap metal, Joost Conijn flies to Africa – a heroic adventure. Not only is Conijn an old-fashioned adventurer, but he can also write wonderfully well; the Wright Brothers and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry molded into one.’ – Tommy Wieringa

Translation rights De Bezige Bij Beijing 2012, contact h.deinum@debezigebij.nl © text De Bezige Bij

paul verhaeghe identity * Success as moral benchmark English material available • World rights: De Bezige Bij • Non-fiction, 256 pages In Identity, Paul Verhaeghe gets to the heart of the social changes behind our changed sense of identity. The crux of this new-me feeling revolves around three issues: changes in identity development, in standards and values, and the consequences of neoliberalism. Who we are is determined, as always, by the context within which we live. At this moment, that context rules: those who do not succeed will become ill. The drive for success and happiness turns out to have a dark side: it leads to a loss of self-awareness, to disorientation and despair. Humans are lonelier than ever. Love is hard to reach, and living in a meaningful fashion has become deeply problematical. On the basis of his clinical experience as a psychotherapist, Verhaeghe shows the reader the great extent to which a changed society has impacted the contemporary mental problems of the individual. paul verhaeghe (b. 1955) is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, and a professor at the University of Ghent. He achieved international recognition as an expert on Freud and Lacan. Love in Times of Loneliness (1998), a critical

analysis of contemporary relations between the sexes, became an international bestseller and was translated into eight languages. More than 12,000 copies of The End of Psychotherapy have been sold to date. On Love in Times of Loneliness: ‘Rarely has anyone portrayed the modern-day problems between the sexes in language clearer or more down-to-earth.’ – knack weekend On New Studies of Old Villains: ‘As always with Paul Verhaeghe's work, New Studies of Old Villains presents complex and difficult ideas with humor and humanity. A fascinating and exhilarating read.’ – Hanif Kureishi On The End of Psychotherapy: ‘Verhaeghe’s book can be read as an ode to the classic therapist, who applies himself patiently to establishing a relationship with the patient and helping him find words to express what had, until then, been only physically palpable.’ – vrij nederland

Translation rights De Bezige Bij Beijing 2012, contact h.deinum@debezigebij.nl © text De Bezige Bij

jan caeyers beethoven. a biography * A lively biography of one of the most popular composers of all time Over 10,000 copies sold • Sold to Beck (Germany) • English sample translation available • Full German translation available • World rights: De Bezige Bij • Biography, 672 pages Beethoven grants full attention to the historical context within which the composer lived and worked, and deals clearly with his music, which became more complex and idiosyncratic as the composer grew older. Yet other aspects of Beethoven’s life are illuminated as well, including his relationship with the ‘immortal beloved’. Caeyer’s writing is based on years of experience as a conductor of Beethoven, and is characterized by a good eye for psychological detail and social frameworks. He also evocates the couleur locale of Vienna around the year 1800. It makes it a biography that will appeal to a broad audience of music lovers and those interested in cultural history.

jan caeyers (b. 1953) is a symphony conductor and musicologist. He studied, worked and lived for many years in Vienna. With the Beethoven Academy he has performed in Europe’s major concert halls. In addition, he has served as special guest conductor with numerous orchestras and opera houses. He teaches at the University of Leuven in Belgium, and is considered one of Europe’s greatest Beethoven specialists. On Beethoven: ‘A brilliant biography of Beethoven. A wonderful, moving and revealing life history that I read with great joy. An outstanding achievement.’ – Maarten ‘t Hart in vrij nederland ‘A superb biography.’ – de morgen ‘Caeyers new life of Beethoven is wonderfully written and as entertaining as it is well researched.’ – friesch dagblad ‘The biography of a musician, written by a musician, becomes music itself.’ – frankfurter allgemeine

david van reybrouck congo. a history * The fate of one of the world’s most devastated countries. Over 220,000 copies sold • Sold to Ecco/Harper Collins (us), 4th Estate (uk), Font Forlag (Norway), Suhrkamp (Germany), Natur och Kultur (Sweden), Actes Sud (France), Tiderne Skifter (Denmark) and Siltala (Finland) • Winner of the ako Literature Prize, the Libris History Prize and the Jan Greshof Prize • English proposal and sample chapter available • World rights: De Bezige Bij • Non-fiction, 550 pages David Van Reybrouck begins his gripping account of hope and madness in the 1870s and chronicles the pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial era up to 2010, the fiftieth anniversary of Congo’s independence. His vivid narrative zooms in on the impact of the slave trade and the late nineteenthcentury rubber boom, presents lively portraits of Belgian colonization, the struggle for independence, Lumumba’s tragic life and Mobutu’s dictatorship, and details the causes of the war that has raged between 1996 and the present, the deadliest conflict since the Second World War. Congo. A History is based on little-known archival sources and extensive travelling in Central-Africa. The hundreds of interviews which Van Reybrouck conducted both in the slums of Kinshasa and in the villages of the interior, as well as in the African

diaspora of Europe and China, lend a unique dimension to a rich and convoluted history. david van reybrouck (b. 1971) is a journalist, a literary non-fiction writer, a novelist, a poet, a playwright and a professor at the university of Leiden. Many of his books were nominated and have won literary prizes. His work has been translated into French (Actes Sud), Afrikaans (Protea) and Hungarian (Gondolat). He lives in Brussels. On Congo. A history: ‘Sublime… monumental… virtuoso. This literary non fiction is more thrilling than a novel can be.’ – nrc handelsblad ‘The best book on Africa of the past years.’ – frankfurter allgemeine ‘It’s raining Congo books. But this one outclasses all competition in a spectacular way: it’s more important, more intelligent, written better, yes, even thicker than all others… An incredible tour de force.’ – humo

pieter winsemius coincidence is only logical * What we can learn from the oracle Johan Cruijff Over 10,000 copies sold • World rights: Balans | De Bezige Bij • Non-fiction, 160 pages “Coincidence is only logical.” Johan Cruijff always looks at you when he says things like that, as though to say: did you get that? It’s perfectly clear to him, but you sit there, nod in assent and think: what on earth is this man talking about? Until the penny drops and suddenly you understand what he means. Cruijff was and still is an oracle. In the course of the years, his pronouncements have been an inspiration to many. The humor, the matter-of-fact keenness, the sense of reality and the hidden wisdom of much of what Cruijff seems to say so casually give reason again for reflection and examination of one’s own thoughts.

his own observations, opinions and associations. “If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it better,” Cruijff once told a journalist. Pieter Winsemius, fortunately, explains everything, and that is a delight – because once you understand him, you can learn a lot. pieter winsemius (b. 1942) is a member of the Netherlands Council for Government Policy, a professor at the University of Tilburg, a former cabinet minister of Health & Environment and the writer of books including Sixteen Million Dutchmen, I Can’t Do it Alone, Big People Don’t Die and the huge bestseller You Only Start Seeing It Once You've Figured it Out (200,000 copies sold).

In 2004, Pieter Winsemius wrote the bestseller You Only Start Seeing It Once You’ve Figured It Out, about Johan Cruijff and leadership. Some 200,000 copies later, he once again examines the essence of Cruijff ’s words and provides them with exegesis and commentary, supplemented with

typex rembrandt * A uniquely vivid portrait of Rembrandt’s life, in cooperation with the Rijksmuseum Publication: March 2013 • Dummy available • World rights: Oog & Blik / De Bezige Bij • Full colour graphic novel, 240 pages Rembrandt portrays the painter’s life and follows the whole sweep of his painting career. It is about one man’s artistic vocation and the work it demands, about life and death, love and bereavement, fame and loss. A graphic novel with the imaginative power to bring Rembrandt van Rijn, one of the greatest painters of all time, to life. His love life is an important part of the story. His wife Saskia was his greatest passion. She came from a prosperous family and the couple was comfortably off. After Saskia’s death, Rembrandt didn’t remarry, since that would have meant forfeiting his inheritance. He did have other relationships, with Geertje Dircx and especially Hendrickje Stoffels. Rembrandt’s lifestyle had long been extravagant, and he eventually faced personal bankruptcy.

typex (b. 1962) is an Amsterdam College for the Arts graduate. His work appears in many nationwide newspapers and magazines. He illustrated numerous children’s books and published some of his own. This unique collaborative enterprise between the author, Typex, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, Oog & Blik|De Bezige Bij Publishers and the Rijksmuseum, home of the world’s largest and most important Rembrandt collection, guarantees a spectacular result – a stunning and surprising graphic novel on Rembrandt’s life.