Frankfurt Book Fair 2009
De Arbeiderspers Foreign Rights Guide Contact details: De Arbeiderspers, Herengracht 370-372 1016 CH Amsterdam, The Netherlands Telephone: + 31 20 52 47 500 Facsimile: + 31 20 62 24 937
CONTACT DETAILS De Arbeiderspers Herengracht 370-372 Mail to PO Box 2877 1000 CW Amsterdam Tel 00 31 20 625 7500 Fax 00 31 20 622 4937 (General) / 7529 (Editorial) Managing Director of De Arbeiderspers, Archipel, Balans BV : Lex Jansen Publishing Director : Elik Lettinga: e.lettinga@arbeiderspers.nl Publisher Sporthuis/Editor in Chief : Peter Nijssen: p.nijssen@arbeiderspers.nl Editor, Books in Translation : Michele Hutchison: m.hutchison@arbeiderspers.nl Editor, Michel van de Waart (specialism: German): m.van.de.waart@arbeiderspers.nl Assistant Editor (specialism: French): Lydia Nijman: l.nijman@arbeiderspers.nl Foreign Rights & Film Rights : Michele Hutchison: m.hutchison@arbeiderspers.nl SUBAGENTS: The Susijn Agency (De Loo, Benali, Schogt) 3rd Floor, 64 Great Titchfield street London W1W 7QH Tel +44 20 7580 6341 Fax +44 20 7580 8626 www.thesusijnagency.com Email: Laura@thesusijnagency.com Marianne Schรถnbach Literary Agency (Germany) Oostenburgervoorstraat 130 1018 MR Amsterdam Tel +31 20 620 0020 Email: m.schonbach@schonbach.nl Turkey: Kalem Agency Israel: Harris Elon Agency Romania: Livia Stoia Agency
2
DE ARBEIDERSPERS CELEBRATES ITS EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY! On 21st May 1929, the Amsterdam lawyer Van Riel registered a nameless trading partnership: N. V. Drukkerij and Uitgeversmaatschappij De Arbeiderspers [Printers and publishing group The Workers Press]. The newly established shared office space in a new complex with Het Volk [The People], the official newspaper of the Dutch Social Democratic Workers’ Party, and Voorwaarts [Forwards], another red rag. The book shop and publishing company ‘Ontwikkeling’ [Development] was also based in the same building. A red family was born. We celebrated the 80th birthday of The Worker’s Press on Wednesday 20th May 2009 in an old factory building in the Westerpark, Amsterdam. While dancing to music from the 30s, 60s and 80s, feasting on roast pork from a spit, cheeses galore and lethal genever, we looked back on the history of a publishing house that brought out books intended to emancipate the working classes, which ‘marched forwards’ during the war years and in the 1950s housed such big names as Louis Paul Boon, Annie M. G. Schmidt and Simon Carmiggelt. In the 1960s the Privé-domein [Private domain] imprint was created to focus on autobiographical writings by classical writers. The Oorlogs-domein [War domain] list was created for personal writings on war. Our poetry list grew into one of the best in the country, and our most recent addition, Sporthuis, has cornered the market in books on running and cycling. Eighty years later we’re celebrating the fantastic success of our current literary authors such as Anna Enquist and Maarten ’t Hart, once again in the bestseller lists. Arthur Japin continues to thrill his fans, Geert Kimpen is finding a niche in the market for inspirational historical novels and our fattest and most unhealthy poet got on his bike and cycled to Rome. We have some very ambitious projects in the pipeline, such as Rik Zaal’s quirky, exhaustive guide to the Netherlands. And last but not least we also have also published some of the best international writers of recent years: Orhan Pamuk, Ryzard Kapuscinski, Paulo Coelho, Richard Yates, Cormac McCarthy, Michel Houellebecq, Michael Pollan, Uwe Tellkamp, Simon Singh, Irvine Welsh, Tim Parks, Péter Esterházy, Fernando Pessoa, John Updike, to name but a few.
3
CONTENTS
Recent sales
bestsellers Counterpoint by Anna Enquist 6 Another Light by Rosita Steenbeek 7 The Secret Newton by Geert Kimpen 8 My Mother’s Voice by Abdelkader Benali 9
new literary fiction Paganini Park by Arjan Visser 10 Engagement by Maarten ’t Hart 11 Dear Traveller by Philibert Schogt 12 Winter Love by Carel Donck 13 The Guardian by Peter Terrin 14
thrillers Sick by Martine Kamphuis 16 Old Sores by Tineke Beishuizen 17
non-fiction The Complete Netherlands by Rik Zaal 18 Stop the Clocks by J. J. Hermsen 19 The Uphill-downhill Philosophy by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer 20
sports European Top Clubs by Raf Willems 21 Sand Runner by Abdelkader Benali 21
modern classics Louis Paul Boon 22 Herman de Coninck 23
available in english translation Bride Flight by Marieke van der Pol 24 German Wedding by Pieter Waterdrinker 25 The Shrimp Peeler by Nilgün Yerli 26 Rupert by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer 27 God Sought to Kill Moses by Maarten ’t Hart 29 The Window Dresser by Christiaan Weijts 30 Manhood by Mels van Driel 32
4
English language rights to Counterpoint by Anna Enquist to uwa Australia. Danish rights to Turbine Forlaget. Czech rights to Mlada Fronta. Arabic rights to The Masterpiece to Kalima. Arabic rights to The Dutch Slave Trade by PC Emmer to Dar-Alfarabi (previously to Berghahn Books New York and Editions Karthala, Paris) German rights to Engagement and forthcoming autobiography by Maarten ’t Hart to Piper Verlag. French rights to Eros and the Lonely Man by Louis Paul Boon to Editions Circé, The Phenomenal Feminotheque by Louis Paul Boon to Editions Anatolia, Switzerland. English language rights to My Little War to Dalkey Archive Press, usa (via Querido). Norwegian rights to Emir Suljagic’s Postcards from the Grave to Cappelen Damm (previously to Beit Casa Editrice, Italy; Czarne, Poland and Zsolnay, Germany) Croatian rights to Mr Lugosi’s Butler by Guido Snel to Fraktura.
recent rights new
RECENT RIGHTS SALES
English language rights to Manhood: The Rise and Fall of the Penis by Mels van Driel to Reaktion Books, uk, Chinese rights to Flower City Press, Polish rights to Artvitae.
Hungarian rights to The Kabbalist by Geert Kimpen to Nyitottkony; Turkish rights to Neden Kitap.
Film rights to The Import Bride by Hülya Cigdem to Eyeworks.
prizes Longlisted for the Libris Prize 2009: So It’s Love by JJ Hermsen. Shortlisted for the Libris Prize 2009: Counterpoint by Anna Enquist Longlisted for the Gouden Uil 2009: Via Cappello 22 by Christiaan Weijts and Counterpoint by Anna Enquist. Shortlisted for the 2009 ako Prize: Via Cappello 22 by Christiaan Weijts Runner-up in the Europa Prize 2009: Via Cappello 22 by Christiaan Weijts Shortlisted for the 2009 ‘Book sharing’ prize (reading groups): The Surrender by Arthur Japin and Bride Flight by Marieke van der Pol J.C. Bloem Prize (poetry) 2009 to Maria Barnas for Er staat een stad op (A city arises).
5
March 2009 hardback 204 pages
bestsellers
COUNTERPOINT by Anna Enquist
*One of Holland’s top literary authors: each of her four novels has been a top ten bestseller, The Homecoming was also a top ten bestseller in Germany and awarded the Prix du Livre Corderie Royale in France. *Sample translation available. *Selected for Ten Books from Holland & Flanders 2008. *Successful ongoing reading tour with piano accompaniment by Ivo Janssen. *Appearing at Adelaide festival, 2010.
Bach’s music forms the backdrop to this stunning short novel about motherhood and loss. A woman with a complicated past attempts to master Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations on her grand piano. The music becomes a way of understanding and interpreting her life as a parent. Each variation correlates to a particular memory until she can finally regain a sense of composure. Slowly but surely the landscape of her past unfolds; a family, mother, father, son and daughter appear during various stages of their lives together as the story builds up to a crescendo of great emotional power. Sold to Luchterhand (ger), Actes Sud (fr), Sifriat Poalim (isr), University of Western Australia Press (anz), Turbine Forlaget (den), Mlada Fronta (czh) Options: Is Bankasi (tur), piw (pol) Reviews: * ‘Anna Enquist repeatedly constructs new images from the broken pieces of a shattered existence, but they remain mirrors of broken glass... Contrapunt with its Bachian title and dominant form is a harsh novel, but harsh in the way only very sensitive artists can be harsh. Structure is the thing – and any music lover knows this – that allows us to break down and weep.’ PF Thomese, author of Shadow Child * ‘Dutch writer, Anna Enquist, translates Bach’s music into words with an astonishing intensity and weaves them into a story of a mother and a daughter without a trace of sentimentality. A major story about love and music in which the denouement of both themes is contained in the overture.’ Claudia Voigt in Der Spiegel Anna Enquist (1945) is one of Holland’s best-loved writers. She is also the author of the widely-translated, bestselling novels, The Secret, The Masterpiece and The Homecoming, as well as plays, poems and short stories. 6
March 2009 paperback 272 pages
bestsellers
ANOTHER LIGHT by Rosita Steenbeek
*Stunning historical novel in the vein of A Girl with Pearl Earring. *bestseller in the Netherlands.
A story of love and female emancipation in the seventeenth century, based on real characters and events. Matthias Withoos is painting a large landscape of Amersfoort, assisted by his children and two pupils. His favourite daughter Alida has painterly aspirations; she’s also in love with one of his pupils, Jasper van Wittel. In the catastrophic year 1672, the Dutch Republic is under attack from three sides and the protestant Withooses flea to Hoorn, taking Jasper with them. During this time, Jasper and Alida both develop their painting skills and their ambitions, but when they return, Jasper gets the chance to travel to Italy to continue his training and a frustrated Alida does not. In his letters home to her, he tells of the Bentveugels, the Dutch-Flemish painters guild in Rome, bursting with talent and prone to throwing wild parties. As time goes by he makes his name as ‘Gaspare Vanvitelli’, meanwhile, Alida, tired of waiting for him, finally dares to pursue her own goals, becoming an accomplished botanical painter. Her friendships with Agnes Block (an exotic plant collector) and Maria Sybilla Merian (painter and world traveller) lead her to break with the past and see her own life in a different light. Reviews: * ‘Another Light is a subtle and elegant novel about the art of observation and the poetry of the brushstroke, but also about dreams and frustrated ambitions. The book breathes colour.’ – BOEK (magazine) * ‘Steenbeek has much to offer... a colourful historical account, strongly rooted in what gives Holland its unique identity (to this day).’ – De Telegraaf Rosita Steenbeek grew up in Amersfoort. After her studies she moved to Rome, becoming a film and television actress and an intimate friend of Federico Fellini and Alberto Moravia. Her first novel was published in 1994 and translated into Italian, German, Czech and Polish. Rosita divides her time between Rome and Amsterdam. www.rositasteenbeek.nl 7
bestsellers
THE SECRET NEWTON by Geert Kimpen
September 2008 paperback 392 pages *The Kabbalist, Kimpen’s debut, has sold more than 70,000 copies in Holland and translation rights in ten countries. *English dossier available. In 1717, Kit Conduitt, Newton’s niece, inherits a wooden chest full of manuscripts, notebooks, letters and diagrams. Bishop Horsley goes through it and slams the chest shut again. Cut to 2008, for more than seventy years the chest’s contents have been puzzled over by academics but the results of their investigations have only trickled out bit by bit. Universities are in denial about Newton’s practice of alchemy. Now the world will finally learn what was in the box. The Secret Newton is based on real historical documents from Newton’s chest and the founding of the Freemason’s movement. Reviews: * ‘A page-turning, enchanting story, which you also learn a lot from. Geert Kimpen is a better writer than Dan Brown. He shows a different side of Newton, a man who really comes to life in the book...’ – Good Morning Netherlands (tv) * ‘The Secret Newton won’t disappoint Dan Brown fans. Newton’s life provides wonderful material for a fantastic historical novel.’ – De Standaard Option holders: Maeva (sp), Bertrand (por), Cyklady (pol), Päikesepillaja (est), Humanitas (rom), Nova Gorica (slov), Nedem Kitap (tur), Open Letter (hun) Geert Kimpen (1965) is Flemish but lives in the Netherlands, he worked as a script writer before turning his hand to writing. He is the author of The Kabbalist and Step by Step, a guide to using Kabbalah to improve your life. www.kabbalist.nl
8
March 2009 hardback 224 pages
bestsellers
MY MOTHER’S VOICE by Abdelkader Benali
Represented by Laura Susijn *New bestselling novel from the winner of the Lubberhuizen and Libris prizes. *English and French samples available. *Longlisted for the 2009 ako prize.
A psychological drama about family ties. With his latest novel Benali goes back to the theme of his international best-selling first novel Wedding by the Sea – that of immigrants stuck between two cultures. A photographer has carved himself a place amongst the cultural elite in the West. He hardly sees his parents, who moved from Morocco 25 years earlier. That changes when his father calls him and tells him his sick mother wants to see the photo album. Certain photos and her son’s presence by her side give his mother back the will to live and to speak again (she has been silent since the tragic death of the narrator’s twin brother 20 years earlier). The reliving of that tragedy has surprising consequences for all with long hidden family secrets revealed. Reviews: * ‘Benali has grown. This is a beautiful told story about fear of commitment, letting go and growing up, caged in a Cain and Abel tale of rival brothers.’ – De Telegraaf Abdelkader Benali (1975) was born in Ighazzazen, Morocco, and has lived in The Netherlands since 1979. He studied history in Leiden and now lives in Amsterdam. As well as Wedding by the Sea and The Long-awaited, Benali has also written the very successful theatre plays The Unlucky One and Yasser, and published the story collection Reports from Maanzaad Town. www.abdelkaderbenali.nl
9
October 2009 hardback 208 pages *Lead fiction title, extensive advertising campaign. *English sample available.
Fellini on the Albert Cuyp market: a Carnivalesque tour de force, in a typical Amsterdam working class setting.
new literary fiction
PAGANINI PARK by Arjan Visser
Niccolò ‘Nicky’ Stokvis, an Amsterdammer of Italian parentage, appears to bring everyone good luck. Born into an ice-cream family, he forms a succesful singing duo, The Paganinis, which in turn becomes the golden goose of an unsuccesful insurance salesman. For a socially successful but sexually-frustrated local dignitary, a sexual encounter with Nicky marks a turning point in his life. But from the day of his birth, Niccolò’s poor mother has been well-acquainted with the flip side of fate. According to her Sicilian grandmother, the boy has been born a day too late – under an unlucky star. How long will it be before the devil claims his own? Finally the curse comes true. A small, sick dog in Paganini Park is the only witness. Reviews and pre-publication quotes: * ‘I was swept away by this dazzling novel. Paganini Park is unputdownable’ – Herman Koch, bestselling author of The Dinner * ‘A completely original, daring novel full of drama and humour’ – Rosita Steenbeek * ‘An extraordinarily clever achievement’ – nrc Handelsblad (on The Last Days) * ‘Literature from a real writer. Arjan Visser writes carefully and with enormous compassion for his often unintelligent and unworldly character’ – de Volkskrant Arjan Visser (1961) Won the Anton Wachter and the Geert Jan Lubberhuizen prizes for his debut, The Last Days (Augustus, 2003) which was also shortlisted for the ako prize. His second novel, Fall from Heaven, was also published by Augustus (2006). Visser works as a journalist and has a popular interview column in Trouw newspaper.
10
August 2009 hardback 304 pages *One of Holland and Germany’s best-loved and bestselling literary authors. *Set in Maassluis, a strict Calvinist community – the fans’ favourite. *English sample available.
Are we any better equipped for friendship than romance?
new literary fiction
ENGAGEMENT by Maarten ’t Hart
Youri and the story’s narrator grow up together in Maassluis at the end of the 1940s, their fathers a bicycle repairman and sewage worker respectively, one of them a collaborator. Throughout their school years, Jouri systematically steals the narrator’s girlfriends. Our hero even helps friend Frederica to lure Jouri by pretending to have a relationship with her, while harbouring feelings for her himself. A few years later, the narrator is married to a quiet, unassuming woman, has had affairs with his students, and is as unhappily married as his parents were. When Frederica appears back on the scene, he has a golden opportunity to wreak lengthy revenge on Youri. In this spirited novel, Maarten ’t Hart – who has studied the mating patterns of pikes, rats, grebes and peacocks – describes the clumsy, inadequate mating patterns of humans. Reviews: * ‘Engagement is a well-constructed novel... ‘t Hart sets to work with his idiosyncratic material in a confident manner, powerfully gripping his self-created world in the palm of his hand.’ -Het Parool * ‘Tastefully told, with the necessary humour and knowledge of natural history. Typical Maarten t Hart.’ – Algemeen Dagblad Sold to Piper (Germany), option publisher Atlantis (Sweden). Maarten ’t Hart was born in 1944 in Maasluis in a strict Reformed (Calvinist) family, a milieu he later escaped. He studied biology with a thesis on the behaviour of the three spiked stickleback. His writing career started in 1971 but his breakthrough came in 1978 with the his novel Een vlucht regenwulpen (now over a million copies sold) which has been filmed. His themes include music (in particular Bach), nature and literature. With the publication of his novel Het woeden der gehele wereld, winner of the Gouden Strop 1994 for the best suspense novel, sales hit two million and are still climbing. 11
October 2009 hardback 224 pages represented by Laura Susijn
Off the beaten track with an unreliable guide.
new literary fiction
DEAR TRAVELLER by Philibert Schogt
Schogt’s superb new novel is narrated by the writer of a la carte travel guides, Max, who is currently collecting data for Ireland. Usually he skips any attractions that require any effort and cobbles together his text from other guides and the internet. He drifts lazily through life, never fully engaging with anyone or anything, until a fatal night of passion in Swansea – with Linda, a colleague on her way to cover Wales. Linda creeps into his bed and Max falls in love. Where he used to let things just flow by, now he suddenly discovers feeling and is forced to re-assess his existence. The beauty of the Irish countryside touches him profoundly and he loses his way. When his ex-best friend dies a hero and his boss finds out about Max’s work methods, Max’s carefully constructed nonchalance finally cracks. Often hilarious and utterly gripping, this novel perfectly captures man’s disillusionment and apathy and life’s ability to shatter them. Reviews of The Philosopher’s Wife: * ‘An entertaining, cleverly constructed novel...compelling.’ – Volkskrant * ‘An engaging moral tale with a forbidding undertone and a surprising finale.’ – Brabants Dagblad * ‘Fluently written with vivid descriptions.’ – Trouw Options: Garzanti (Italy) Philibert Schogt (1960) was born in Holland, grew up in Canada and now lives in Amsterdam. His first novel was the internationally acclaimed The Wild Numbers (Weidenfeld/Plume), which he followed up with Daalder’s Chocolates (Thunders Mouth us) and The Philosopher’s Wife.
12
October 2009 paperback 208 pages *Gripping second novel by television screenplay writer. *German translation of Night Mother available.
What if you could go back to your first love?
new literary fiction
WINTER LOVE by Carel Donck
During the winter of 1950, two young Friesans meet while out ice-skating. Jaap is a barge driver’s son who has just won a speed skating competition, Jitske is the daughter of wealthy farmers and has just completed a skating tour. They recognise a shared spirit in each other, skate together and fall in love. A few weeks of adventurous meetings under the moonlight give way to misunderstandings, rivalry and class difference. They break up with the big thaw. Now we meet Jitske as a senile old lady living more in the past than the present. Her husband tries to help her with her sense of unfinished business by tracking down Jaap and inviting him to visit them in Friesland. Will he return his wife to the one she was destined to be with? Reviews of Night Mother: * ‘The story is so exciting, page-turning and yet disturbing that during the couple of hours it takes to read this novel, you find yourself temporarily removed from the world.’ – de Volkskrant * ‘The author knows how to build an atmosphere with a clear and evocative writing style. A moving story about bereavement and a wonderful and convincing debut.’ – Mind Magazine Option: Droemer Knaur (Germany) Carel Donck (1946) has had a long career as a successful film and television writer. His 2008 literary debut, Night Mother, was well received both in terms of reviews and sales.
13
September 2009 hardback 220 pages *New novel by a top Flemish writer previously nominated for the ako prize. *Subsidies available from the Flemish literary foundation. *English sample available.
‘Waiting for Godot’ reconfigured by Houellebecq on speed
new literary fiction
THE GUARD by Peter Terrin
Two men guard the only entrance to an unusual building housing forty luxury appartments inhabited by the richest of the rich. The entrance is in the basement, through the ultra-secure carpark. The guardians are the last line of defence, keeping a watch over the lifts. One day a curious thing happens: every single inhabitant bar one abandons the complex, leaving the guardians wondering what is going on in their city, in their country. Their only source of information is the man responsible for their supplies, but they are wary of him for certain reasons. Why doesn’t he wear leather shoes and a tie like they do? What are they supposed to think about the third guard they’ve been told to expect but who hasn’t arrived? The Guard is a page-turning allegorical huis-clos about war and peace – war with an incomprehensible enemy, peace which every man has to earn for himself. Reviews: * ‘The beauty and completeness of this novel leaves you gasping in admiration.’ – nrc Handelsblad * ‘I’ll say it right away to get this much straight – The Guardian is a sublime book... You could describe the book as a “Kafka-esque novel of ideas” or a “surreal allegory” and that would be true enough, but it doesn’t sound too appealing. Hearing those powerful terms most people would feign interest and then go off and search the shelves for a more “accessible” novel. They’d be wrong, this novel has an unbelievable amount to offer, in first place a brilliantly-told story. It doesn’t get much more accessible than this.’ – Het Parool * ‘The most intriguing author of his generation.’ – De Tijd * ‘It’s not that Peter Terrin will become great, he is already.’ – De Morgen
14
Peter Terrin (1968) writes novels, short stories and contemplative pieces. His novel, Women and Children First was nominated for the bng Literature Prize, both Blanco (2003) and the stories The Bee-eaters (2006) were nominated for the ako Prize and he also won a regional prize for the latter (West-Vlanders province). One of the stories from The Bee-eaters will appear in English translation in a forthcoming anthology from Dalkey Archive Press.
15
November 2009 paperback 272 pages
thrillers
SICK by Martine Kamphuis
*Gripping true-to-life psychological thriller written by a psychiatrist. *German rights sold to Droemer.
Infidelity, sex addiction and psychiatry When nurse Rosa discovers some incriminating text messages on her husband’s phone, she walks out and tries to build up a new life, but soon it transpires that her co-depency is too deeply rooted to allow her to really break free. Her husband, psychiatrist Joris is suffering from a mental illness himself but only his most dangerous patient, Robbie, knows about it. Robbie’s response is stalking and blackmail. Meanwhile, Rosa’s ex, head nurse Theo, is trying to worm his way back into her affections. It’s all becoming rather claustrophobic on the ward and the consequences are fatal when one of the patients steals a baseball bat. Martine Kamphuis (1967) works as a psychiatrist in a Rotterdam hospital. She debuted in the genre in 2006 with Free, which was followed by Ex and Cover, all of which were given widespread coverage in the women’s press. She also writes children’s books and last year won the John Flanders Prize.
16
June 2009 paperback 256 pages
thrillers
OLD SORES by Tineke Beishuizen
*New thriller by our most successful author in the genre. *Published in Germany by Piper Verlag.
A stalker makes life hell for a psychologist and her daughter A brick through the window is the first of a series of threats psychologist Anne Verheul has to cope with. While her trusty colleagues Derk and Marleen try to keep the practice running, Anne slowly but surely starts to lose her grip on reality. She seems to be the only person who’ll believe that there is somebody out to get her. Tineke Beishuizen’s first thriller, Like Sand through my Fingers was a bestseller in 2005, after that came the equally successful What are we going to do with Fred?, Unintentional Death and Shadow Garden. She works as a columnist for the popular women’s magazine, Libelle.
17
October 2009 Full colour, 2 volumes, box set. (Sales price e 69.95)
non-fiction
THE COMPLETE NETHERLANDS by Rik Zaal
A unique guide There have been many travel guides written about the Netherlands but no single book can compare with Rik Zaal’s astonishing, eccentric and comprehensive guide. This two-volume compendium is more than a usual travel guide. Rik Zaal spent years travelling around the country and discovered the surprising extent and variety of the Netherlands. He gives a personal, honest and useful account of the countryside, the architecture and the history of the country. Recommendations for restaurants, hotels and B&Bs are all given from direct experience. The Complete Netherlands is a monumental work and a breathtaking panorama of everything that is beautiful, strange and wonderful about the country. Areas of focus: Landscape, Architecture, History, Regional Character, Culinary tips. www.heelnederland.nl Rik Zaal worked as a columnist and travel journalist for the Volkskrant and Het Parool newspapers. He is currently a radio and television producer as well as a writer. His travel guide to Spain was a bestseller in 2000.
18
November 2009 paperback 180 pages
non-fiction
STOP THE CLOCKS by J. J. Hermsen
In defence of a slower existence Predictions for the future sketch a dark picture of what we can expect in Western Europe. An overbuilt landscape where rich and poor live in separation and technological developments follow up from each other at an ever increasing rate. Periods of growth, stagnation and recession in fast succession. We stand in the shadow of a future society in which the dominating feeling is of tempo fugit. Time must be maximised, its rewards reaped and plundered. Making reference to such thinkers as Henri Bergson, Alain Badiou, Paul Virillo, Bernard Stiegler and Emmanuel Levinas, Hermsen puts together an new vision of the phenomenon of time. She asks important questions such as ‘Who owns time?’, ‘Does time have a beginning and an end?’ and ‘Does personal time still exist?’. She looks to art and literature for proof that rest, slowness, boredom, patience and waiting are the most important considerations, and have been since Antiquity, when it comes to the ability to achieve deep thought. J. J.Hermsen (1961) is a writer and philosopher. Her historical novels such as So it’s Love (Libris longlist 2008) and The Portrait have been very successful and she was recently awarded the Halewijn prize for her oeuvre. Her earlier novels were published in Germany by Luebbe.
19
September 2009 Photographs by Gelya Bogatischeva paperback 176 pages, illustrated
non-fiction
THE UPHILL-DOWNHILL PHILOSOPHY: To Rome on a bike by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
*Immediate bestseller upon publication. *Sample available in English. + This is a book for cyclists who will recognise the agony and ecstacy of a beautifully ill-advised trip. +This is a book for dreamers who will understand how poetic and important it is to have nothing other to do than go south. +This is a book for anyone who realises that you can learn more from a difficult climb than an easy descent and that the way there is more important than the destination. At 4pm on June 1st 2008, a poet weighing upwards of 100 kilos and a petite Russian photographer decided to set off from Leiden on their bikes, with the idea of reaching Rome. They hadn’t trained, he was particularly unfit and they weren’t well-prepared, or any kind of prepared. She was riding a yellow mountainbike, the colour yellow being the main factor, and he’d bought a second-hand Batavus for e 95 from the Turkish repairman at the corner. A change of clothing, water and her heavy bike chain were in his rucksack. Forty-one days and 2600 kilometres later they arrived in the Campo dei Fiori at the heart of the Eternal City. This book is the account of that journey in words and images. A journey via Zoeterwoude-Dorp, Tilburg, Marseille, Genua and Pisa, over hills, mountains and valleys, via wine cellars and truckers caffs, carparks and motorways, seaside resorts and wild boar-infested forests – a journey that changed their lives and transformed their relationship. IJla Leonard Pfeijffer is a poet, novelist, performance-artist, theater-writer, journalist and bonviveur. Gelya Bogatischeva was born and raised in Siberia before travelling the world in search of extreme adventure. She is a professional photographer. They both now live in Genova.
20
sports
September 2009 paperback 480 pages
January 2010 paperback 208 pages
EUROPEAN TOP CLUBS by Raf Willems The stories behind the top football clubs Raf Willems travelled all over Europe between 1993 and 2008. He tells the stories behind the 35 biggest clubs in the region, from Ajax to Barcelona to Man Utd to Steuau Bucharest, looking at their social backgrounds, club histories and their most famous victories and defeats. Raf Willems (1960) is a journalist, football advisor and the author of a number of books on sport. His titles on Manchester Utd and long-distance running were previously published by the Arbeiderspers.
SAND RUNNER by Abdelkader Benali *More than 10,000 copies sold of Benali’s Marathon Runner. Reading a lot doesn’t make you a better writer but running a lot does make you a better runner. Where should you go if you want to be the best runner in the world? Morocco! Breeding ground of the world’s top runners. The main character in this novel, Abdelkader Benali, choses to join the select company of Moroccan longdistance runners. His manager promises him a training camp in Ifrane, the Mekka of mountain training. Upon arrival it transpires that he needs not just ambition but also money if he wants to succeed, and the training camp turns out to be non-existent. The manager asks the author a favour – would he mind looking out for young talent Nouredinne. A month later, Benali is sharing a room with Nouredinne and sees him metamorphosize from timid young man to a blowhard with a preference for dangerous women wearing headscarves. Abdelkader Benali (1975) works as a journalist, recently occupying a foreign correspondent’s post in Palestine. He writes novels, stories and poetry and is a fanatical long-distance runner himself. 21
Foto Jo Boon
* ‘The Flemish working class could not find a better historian than Boon. He sprang from its ranks and feels at one with it.’ – Vrij Nederland * More than 35,000 copies of Chapel Road sold in September 2009 through a special offer with newspaper De Morgen
modern classics
LOUIS PAUL BOON
Louis Paul Boon (Flanders, 1912-1979) was without doubt the most important innovator in post-war Flemish and Dutch literature. His masterful novel, De Kapellekensbaan (Chapel Road, 1953), was translated into eight languages and had a great influence on the literature of the Low Lands, but also on the German writer Gunter Grass. In 1971, Boon received the Triannual National Award for his novel Pieter Daens which was later made into a film in 1993 and recieved an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. It was anticipated that Boon would become the first Dutch-language Nobel Prize winner but his untimely death intervened. Boon’s work continues to enjoy popularity today with various theatre adaptations, a musical and the touring show of his Phenominal Feminotheek, an erotic library which continues to prove controversial. De Arbeiderspers are reissuing the complete collection of all of his works in 24 volumes. Chapel Road is perhaps Boon’s most well-known, politically-charged and ambitious novel. Menuet is a shorter, more psychological novel about a man working 8 hours a day in the refrigerated basement of a factory. Recent new editions: Translations: Minuet (Menuet) : New York: Persea Books, 1979. Also in German (Aufbau, 1975; Carl Hanser Verlag, 1979), in French (Complexe, 1973, 2nd edition 2003), in Hungarian (Európa, 1979), in Polish (PIW, 1980), in Swedish (Forum, 1976), in Czech (Olomouc: Votobia) and in Danish (Husets, 1994). My Small War (Mijn kleine oorlog). Ravensburg: Verlag Peter Selinka, 1988. Also in Swedish (Forum, 1976), in Russian (Progress, 1980), in Portuguese (Dom Quixote, 1979), in Serbo-Croat (Prometej, 2001), in Czech (Votobia, 2002) and in French (La Longue Vue, 1985). Chapel Road (De Kapellekensbaan). New York: Twayne Publishers, 1972/ Normal: Dalkey Archive Press, 2003. Also in German (Carl Hanser Verlag, 1970; Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1979; Berlin: 2nd edition Verlag Volk und Welt, 1986; 3rd edition; München: Luchterhand, 2002), in Hungarian (Európa, 1983), in Polish (Czytelnik, 1982), in Norwegian (Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1976), in Swedish (Forum, 1975), in French (l’Age D’Homme, 1999) and in Spanish (Destino, 1979), in Estonian (Varrak, 1999). Jan de Lichte und seine Bande (De bende van Jan de Lichte). Ravensburg: Verlag Peter Selinka, 1987. Also in Rumanian (Univers, 1984). Abel Gholaerts (Abel Gholaerts). Ravensburg: Verlag Peter Selinka, 1990. Der Paradiesvogel (De paradijsvogel). Aachen: Alano Verlag, 1993. Chapel Road and Summer in Termuren recently published by Dalkey Archive Press, usa. My Little War forthcoming.
22
On 22 May 1997, when Herman De Coninck died in Lisbon of a cardiac arrest during a literary congress, Flanders lost one her most widely-read poets. The poet and essayist who taught his people how to read poetry was no more, but even after his death, his poetry debut, De lenige liefde (Limber Love, 1969), a collection of playful love poems, remains one of the best-sold volumes of Dutch-language poetry.
modern classics
HERMAN DE CONINCK
De Coninck’s poems, described as ‘strange, original, and absolutely fabulous’ by the renowned Serbian-American poet Charles Simic, owe their popularity to the clear parlando style, the balanced tone and the familiarity of themes like love, mortality and loss. For De Coninck, poetry was, sometimes literally, an exercise in loss. FINGERPRINTS ON THE WINDOW I think that poetry is something like fingerprints on the window behind which a child who can’t sleep stands waiting for dawn. Earth generates mist; sorrow, a kind of sigh. Clouds are responsible for twenty-five kinds of light. They actually hold it back. Back lighting. It’s still too early to be now. But the rivers are already leaving. They’ve heard the murmuring from the silver factory of the sea. Daughter beside me at the window. Loving her is the easiest way to remember these things. Birds hammer at the anvil of their call all, all, all. (translated by David Colmer) Translations Liefde, miskien (Afrikaans), Queillerie, Kaapstad, 1996. [Selected Poems] (Bulgarian), Narodna Kultura, Sofia, 1987. The plural of happiness (English), Oberlin College Press, Ohio, 2006. Die Mehrzahl von Glück (German), Heiderhoff, Eisingen, 1991. Hotel Eden (Polish), Witryn Artystów, Klodzko, 1989. Os hectares da memória (Portuguese), Quetzal, Lisboa, 1996. [Selected Poems] (Russian), Paritet Graph, Moscow, 2000. Dan kao nijedan drugi (Serbo-Croatian), Prometej, Novi Sad, 1995. The Plural of Happiness, Oberlin Press usa, 2006. Collected Poems, Protea South Africa (2008). 23
*Sold at auction to Kruger in Germany, sold to Mondadori Italy, Portobello uk/us, uwa Australia, Pax Norway. *Big budget Dutch film starring Rudger Hauer, now available on Dvd.
A page-turning, witty debut about a generation of emigrants taken from real-life In 1953 was the year of the last great air race from London to Christchurch. The Dutch klm plane carrying 60 emigrants to New Zealand won, and because there were so many future brides amongst the passengers it was immortalised as ‘the Bride Flight’. Marieke van der Pol, author of the prize-winning script for Tessa de Loo’s The Twins, has taken three young women from the legendary flight and imagines their pioneering experiences. The film production by IdtV premiered in 2008. Ada, Marjorie and Esther yearn to escape the hardships of post-war life in the Netherlands, and their own pasts. They take part in an international air race and travel to New Zealand in a flight full of other girls like them: brides on their way to their fiancés. During the trip they meet Frank, a single man, travelling alone who will come to have a dramatic influence on their lives. Once in New Zealand, their lives follow different courses, but when they meet up again years later they get the chance to hear each other’s stories. Marieke van der Pol (1953) trained as an actress and enjoyed a successful career in a Dutch television series. She wrote the screenplay for The Twins which received the Gouden Kalf and an Oscar nomination. Bride Flight was written as a screenplay and as a novel simultaneously. Marieke continues to write and work on new screenplays. www.brideflight.nl
24
available in English translation
Translated by Colleen Higgins
BRIDE FLIGHT by Marieke van der Pol
Translated by Brian Doyle *Rights sold : Aufbau (Germany), Atlantic Books (uk & us), Limbus Press (Russia). *Currently being adapted for film.
A darkly funny, daring, and operatic novel that’s one part The Corrections, one part The Producers When Jacob and Maria welcome their future family members to their wedding at a gaudily decorated provincial hotel in an old-fashioned Dutch seaside town, they spare no expense. It’s shaping up to be the party of the century, but almost immediately the edifice begins to crumble. Ludo has caught the clap, Liza’s sex-addicted mother is lying about everything to everyone, and a shocking article in a local newspaper reveals that both Hans and Jacob are hiding very shady pasts. Will the bride wise up? Can the groom resist Betsy, the daughter of the disgraced leader of the local Dutch Nazi party? Can Kati get away with cavorting with the hotel doorman? Skeletons fly out of closets with reckless abandon as A German Wedding careens toward its dramatic denouement...
available in English translation
A GERMAN WEDDING by Pieter Waterdrinker
Reviews: * ‘The novel often makes you roar with laughter...Happiness is so close by but just can’t arrive. What makes this novel compelling is the extravagant and lavishly described preparations to the big party full of nervous to-ing and fro-ing by the participants who want to believe that everything will end well while the author and reader look down from their cosy seats onto the pandemonium and impending debacle. Waterdrinker is a natural born storyteller who never loses his grip on his readers.’ – De Volkskrant Pieter Waterdrinker (1961) was born in Haarlem, Holland. He studied Russian, French, and Law at the University of Amsterdam. A novelist, journalist, and broadcaster, he is the Moscow correspondent for the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and has also written a number of novels set in Russia. Waterdrinker’s new novel Mila Burger’s Demise will be published in January 2010. www.pieterwaterdrinker.com 25
Translated by Imogen Cohen *Film version of this 2001 bestseller in production. *100,000 copies sold. *Rights sold to Ediciones Ambar in Spain.
A touching autobiographical novel about emigration and patriarchal dominance. Nilgün Yerli was born in Turkey but her family moved to Holland when she was ten years old. This novelised version of her life relates how she slowly made her way in her adoptive country, the only Turk in the village, bullied at school because she could hardly speak the language, but returning home to the wonderful cooking of her mother who could put together a feast on a shoe-string. For years, Yerli wouldn’t touch a shrimp. They reminded her of the plight of her mother who had to peel mountains of them in the kitchen at night to make ends meet. She adored her mother, a wise and intelligent woman who seemed to have an answer for everything and who always made her feel safe. However, when her mother is killed in a car crash, the narrator has to retrace the parameters of her family. The shrimp-peeling money turns out to have had another use. Her brother’s behaviour is threatening. Her picture of a loving, close, healthy family is shattered and she has to create a new identity for herself.
available in English translation
THE SHRIMP PEELER by Nilgün Yerli
Reviews: * ‘Whoever has read this novel will never be able to set foot in a restaurant without thinking of the shrimp peeler.’ – Trouw * ‘Recognisable, intimate, accessible and lovingly written.’ – Cosmopolitan * ‘The Shrimp Peeler is an intriguing book. Nilgün is open, honest and pure.’ – Nederlands Dagblad Nilgün Yerli (1969) was born in Turkey and moved to Holland when she was ten. She is a stand-up comedian and columnist. This is her first book.
26
Translated by Michele Hutchison Published by Open Letter Press, Summer 2009.
The debut novel of one of Holland’s most talented and controversial writers Rupert has been accused of a terrible crime, and his imagined defense begins the night he met the love of his life, Mira. By turns shockingly honest, incredibly funny, and clearly unhinged, Rupert’s defense includes rants about the properly formed insult and men who wear comfortable sweaters. It also visits the memory-sites of Rupert and Mira’s short-lived affair: her apartment, their favorite cafés and restaurants, and the city’s public squares. Rupert: A Confession is a brilliantly composed monologue that fully exposes-despite the misdirection and bizarre revelations of its teller-the innermost workings of a confused mind. Recalling Neil LaBute’s In the Company of Men, Rupert: A Confession is simultaneously offensive, funny, and compelling, and it serves as a perfect introduction to one of the most talented and controversial writers at work in the Netherlands today.
available in English translation
RUPERT: A Confession by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
From The Barnes & Noble Review: * ‘Scout’s honor: On a purely linguistic level, there was something about Pfeijffer’s sentences with their direct, unbuttoned elegance that reminded me of Philip Roth. This comparison shimmered in my mind before I got to the third chapter of Rupert: A Confession, where an uproarious bit of mortification ties the novels lineage to Portnoy’s Complaint. Let’s just say here, too, is a novel for those who aren’t made skittish by a torrent of testosterone. Like its predecessor, Rupert takes the form of a personal disclosure, though its end point is much darker. Appearing before a jury, the eponymous narrator seeks to exculpate himself from a violent incident. His means for accomplishing this are peculiar. A self-proclaimed master in the arts of memory, Rupert leads his auditors on a tour of his carnality, which he hopes will show that he could not have committed the offense under scrutiny. His aide-memoire is the city’s surrounding geography. His hubris is such that he conflates his precision in delineating the qualities, for example, of a good public square, which he overlays with erotic overtones with moral rectitude. At length, what creeps out from the basement of his increasingly frazzled narrative as initially funny details grow warped are the grotesque consequences of a life devoted to spectating and celebrity envy. (Spoiler alert: If at the end you wonder who the victim is, go back to the above-mentioned chapter.) Indeed, perhaps the final surprise of Rupert: A Confession is how closely allied it is to the work of The Society of the Spectacle author, Guy Debord.’ – Christopher Byrd 27
* ‘Reminiscent of Camus’s The Stranger... cleverly absurd.’ – Harpers Review * ‘Stylish, creepy... Rupert: A Confession is no pleasant read, but an oddly seductive one. Well worthwhile.’ – The Complete Review Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (1968) is a poet, novelist, literary critic, and former Ancient Greek scholar at Leiden University. The winner of numerous prizes-he’s the only Dutch author to have won both of the most coveted debut poetry and prose prizes in the Netherlands.
28
Translated by Michiel Horn *Major bestseller in Holland. *Winner of the Gouden Strop thriller prize 1994. ’The book that you always wanted, as is revealed when you sit down and submerge yourself in a fascinating world. Such books are rarely written.’ – Der Spiegel Based on the murder in 1956 of policeman, during an evangelisation campaign in Maassluis. Goudveyl, son of a rag dealer, witnesses the murder which was never solved. Through him we are given a wittily sketched picture of a working-class neighbourhood. His interest in the murder takes him back in time and he finally arrives at an explanation that has more to do with himself than he realises. A fascinating literary whodunit. Sales: Lumen Spain; Longanesi Italy; Arche Verlag/Piper Germany; Belfond France; Atlantis Sweden; Karolinum Czech Republic; Dulnyouk Korea. Filmed by Rob Houwer.
29
available in English translation
GOD SOUGHT TO KILL MOSES by Maarten ’t Hart
160pp, hardcover, special edition 2009 Translated by Brian Doyle *Produced for the 50th anniversary of the Nederlands Dans Theater. *Weijts’ second novel Via Capello 22 was shortlisted for the Gouden Uil and the AKO prize. *Weijts’ first novel Art 285b (The Scarlatti Fingerings) was also shortlisted for 5 prizes and won the Anton Wachter and the Gouden Ezelsoor for bestselling literary debut.
A literary novella about consumerism inspired in form by modern and classical dance The Cocagne department store dresses windows as they have never been dressed before: interactively, intelligently, and guaranteed to be irresistible. The mastermind behind this new form of window-dressing is Victor Zuid. When the store finds itself under attack from an action group, Zuid is drawn into the conflict. What he doesn’t realize is that his long-lost lover, dancer Vita Laurier, is behind the activism. When they get together he learns that this isn’t her only secret. Victor will soon be forced to see his creations, the people and the city with different eyes. The novella ends with a spectacular performance in the shop window, holograms meeting reality meeting a clash of ideals.
available in English translation
THE WINDOW DRESSER by Christiaan Weijts
Reviews of previous titles: * ‘Christiaan Weijts erects a cathedral of noise and pain in his virtuoso first novel. Prize juries : prepare yourselves!’ – Vrij Nederland * “A brilliant debut... an ingenious literary game, let us call it a total theatre of our times, with references to contemporary and classical literature, music history, and that old chestnut “how to live.”’ – NRC Handelsblad Christiaan Weijts (1976) studied Dutch Literature at Leiden and now lives in Den Haag. He is the author of two very successful literary novels, the first of which has been published in German by Suhrkamp.
30
Although Victor has been reunited with the love of his youth, offspring included, something is preventing him from enjoying this spring day to the full. Perhaps he’s not looking forward to the moment he has to leave Cocagne, perhaps he’s nervous of the future he appears to be rushing into with Vita, perhaps the business with Alex and Hella is still preying on him, perhaps he’s facing a complicated conflict of loyalties. The pieces on the chessboard have adopted a formation that doesn’t suit him, and anyway, it’s not a game of chess and it makes little sense to sweat over the best move. It’s true, the cosmos is pulsating and tossing chance events right and left with complete indifference, but such objective realities don’t alter the fact that he’s part of the human community – by chance perhaps, but whatever – and as such he can’t escape his nature, the equally accidental time in which he lives, the chance constellation of human relationships. More than that, he’s a father and has been a father for all of eighteen years, eighteen years he needs to catch up on in one way or another. He leaves the park by the west gate and orders a glass of wine at a deserted Italian restaurant that has set up its tables and chairs on the side of the road, where an endless queue of cars is creeping past at a snail’s pace. Tiny units concealing the comfort zones you would expect to find in your living room. He once read that organisms started to move about and crawl out of the sea when evolution allowed them to regulate their own temperature. The arrival of the car – an air conditioned unit – extended freedom of movement even further. Technology is an acceleration of evolution using different resources. An unavoidable incidental effect of this process of evolving dynamism is the dwindling sense of being part of a collective. The incessant irritations that prevail in traffic are symptomatic of this decline. Caged in our own mini-climate we start to behave as if we’re unassailable, although it’s harder to tolerate when other road users cut in front of our living room on wheels. The phenomenon, he’s convinced, functions at any number of levels. More people than ever before are pouring their guts out in weblogs, while the number of weblog readers has shrunk to a mere few. Autonomy is tampering with the centripetal forces of the community, and while its members may ultimately enjoy freedom of movement and expression, the result is a dance without congruence, counterpoint or concert. In the last analysis we’re all alone on our own stage, kings and queens of our own unlimited yet miserable performance. If you observe this from the outside, as Victor has been doing for some time now, then groaning despondency is only a step away. The community is in the midst of a drawn-out and disastrous process of decomposition.
31
available in English translation
Extract from The Window Dresser
Translated by Paul Vincent *Sold to Reaktion Books uk, Flower City Press China, Artvitae Poland. *Featured in Ten Books from Holland 2008, subsidy available from NLPVF.
The cultural, historical, biological, psychological, medical story of the male reproductive organs by a well-known erectile dysfunction specialist. Why does drinking alcohol increase a woman’s sexual desire but reduce a man’s ability to perform? Why is the glans not the most sensitive part of the penis? Why is sperm sticky? Can a penis break off? What about all the diseases that torment the hypochondriac? Since 1983 Mels van Driel has come into direct contact with ’tens of thousands of penises and testicles’ in his medical practice. He knows his subject intimately. ‘Manhood’ examines the male sexual organ from medical, psychological and cultural-historical, as well as literary, angles.
available in English translation
MANHOOD: The Rise and Fall of the Penis by Dr. Mels van Driel
Van Driel admits that over the years his professional work has produced an ’uneasy balance’ between these different viewpoints, which is precisely what prompted him to write this book. Van Driel investigates the penis and its functions, from the scrotum to the glans, from inguinal hernia to infertility, from impotence to the speed of ejaculation. Every man seems to suffer in seeming isolation from some inadequacy or affliction, and the author discusses conditions such as deteriorating sperm, undescended testicles and penile lengthening surgery. Psychological factors that have an impact on sexual experience (wandering thoughts, the madonnawhore complex, castration anxiety) and contemporary phenomena, such as computer sex, are given enlightening treatment along the way. With good humor and a lot of insight, Mels van Driel offers diverse and instructive examples – Elvis Presley’s apparent preference for fellatio, Isaac Newton’s lifelong failure to perform coitus – exploring all aspects of the pain and the pleasure of every man’s ‘crown jewels’. Reviews: * ‘Everything you ever wanted to know about male sexuality has been described by Van Driel in a refined, lightfooted, expert and tasteful manner.’ – De Standaard 32
* ‘A good way of getting to know your trusty friend a little better.’ – Het laatste nieuws Mels van Driel (1954) is a urologist and sexologist at Groningen Medical University. He specialised in erectile dysfunction and has published widely in medical periodicals and scientific magazines. His new book, Met de hand (With the Hand and Other Objects), a light-hearted look at the history and culture of masturbation will be published by De Arbeiderspers in Spring 2010.
33