Willems Uitgevers/Sportumi English folder 2022

[sportumi]

INTRODUCTION

9 years Willems Uitgevers/Sportumi

Willems Uitgevers/Sportumi will celebrate its ninth birthday in 2022. Our professional experience in the book trade extends over a period of three decades. At the time, we started as Publisher De Vliegende Keeper – The Flying Goalkeeper – with sports books. At the end of April 2014 we presented our first book with 90 Jaar Bosuil. Joy and sorrow of Royal Antwerp Football Club. And exactly five years later, we published a book of sorrow and joy: Becoming a Mom The road to hap piness through IVF from Flemish singer Lindsay.

In a way, this edition symbolized the evolution of our publishing house: from sports to life. In recent years we have opted for books with and by committed women, about health & well-being, lifestyle and life stories. Respect for individual freedoms and human rights is also constantly present in our approach.

And as we always said, everyone with their own vision was welcome with us: an essay on politics, an in-depth study of world history, a literary debut or a cookbook. It’s allowed! Both from older young people – like ourselves – and from idiosyncratic youth.

Welcome to Willems Uitgevers/Sportumi. We are proud to present you our most important titles.

Best regards, Raf Willems – Publisher Tom Willems – Art director

Raf Willems

Tom Willems

CHRISTIAN VANDENABEELE, THOMAS D’HAVÉ

HOW TO BECOME A ROCK-SOLID FOOTBALLER

How to become a rock-solid footballer explains how your lifestyle can help you perform better and suffer fewer injuries. In the first place, the book was written for ambitious footballers who are keen to learn. For youth players who want to improve their chances of making the first team, and for adult players who want to make better use of their qualities. But it is also a book that gives parents and coaches the essential support to guide young footballers in their everyday lives in a more knowledgeable way. It describes a new domain with ground-breaking knowledge: lifestyle as a performance-boosting factor. The world’s most popular sport has been crying out for this unique book. Because on one hand, we are living in a society with ever more distractions and habits that undermine our taxability, and on the other hand, football continues to place higher demands on body and mind. Belgian national team player Thomas Meunier pointed out lately how many young

footballers already struggle with injuries. How you become an extremely strong footballer shows how you can become more resistant to stress both physically and mentally by changing your lifestyle. By extension, ‘extremely strong footballer’ is a metaphor for every ambitious athlete who is keen to learn.

THOMAS D’HAVÉ (1979) is an osteopath and has spent over twenty years in football. Ajax and West Ham United are two of the clubs he has worked at.

CHRISTIAN VANDENABEELE (1962) is a journalist. He worked at Sport/Voetbalmagazine for a quarter of a century, and in that time, he won the Dexis Press Prize and the Prize for Investigative Journalism. How to become a rocksolid footballer is his first book.

In collaboration with Dr Leo Pruimboom, founder of clinical psycho-neuroimmunology.

JACQUES CALUWÉ AND KRISTOF VEREECKE

THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF EVERY DAY

That’s how Jacques Caluwé’s basic philosophy starts. During his entire career, he has been providing tools to offer people the opportunity to get the best out of themselves. Elite athletes with injuries, managers who want to change their approach to life, or emotionally traumatised children: every patient is treated with equal care by Jacques Caluwé. From his office in the small town of Bassevelde, his complete B-E-St therapy is conquering the world. B-E-St is short for ‘Bio-Energy Stimulation’ and revolves around energy. The technology is able to relieve pain more quickly and aid recovery from injuries. The basis of the B-E-St philosophy is the word motility, which surmounts energy. Motility is our entire being. It’s

not just about your physical being, but also about your emotional, mental and spiritual basis. Jacques Caluwé has travelled all over the world to discover that. You can read the results of that forty-year query in ‘The best version of yourself every day’, written by Kristof Vereecke.

Total therapist JACQUE CALUWÉ has been providing tools to get the best out of people and themselves during his entire career. B-E-St is his brainchild.

KRISTOF VEREECKE is a freelance journalist who, amongst other publications, works for Het Laatste Nieuws.

‘By respecting your motility, you give yourself the chance to grow into the B-E-St version of yourself.’

MICHEL BRUYNINCKX

WE CAN DO A LOT MORE THAN WE THINK

A new view of learning in school and in sports

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” (Albert Einstein). More and more, it becomes clear that we often use our congenital intelligence and skills in a wrong and injudicious manner. Climate change serves as a painful example, and we’re set to go down the same route as far as the current social, religious and cultural tensions are concerned. How can we get it wrong so often? To quote Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman: There is too much noise in our decision-making. There is just one explanation for this phenomenon: we lack insight and knowledge on how the brains work. They direct our lives. For years, we have been creating a virtual world for a few chosen ones, under the guise that nature or God had a hand in the process. This book will help you understand better why we have developed so many prejudices, false truths, stereotypes and social and emotional inequalities. Even more,

it is a start in giving everyone more chances of development in school and in sports, in preventing learning disabilities, and in showing how plastic or malleable the brains are. And, so, to lead everyone towards fulling exploiting their potential. We truly can do more than we think.

MICHEL BRUYNINCKX (1951) teaches Dutch, English, economics, computer science, special didactics and business management (secondary and adult education). He is a professional football coach, licenced with UEFA A and UEFA Youth Elite; teacher at the Belgian Football Association academy. Consultant Brain central learning and neuro didactics. Creator Soccerpal on music and Sense Ball. Some of his previous publications are Cogitraining, NBM neuro didactics for sport and school, Running technique and coordination, Futsal and Rhythmic Cueing for athletes with disabilities.

IRIS FIORINE

NEVER AGAIN SCARED OF THE DENTIST

book that lets children and their (grand)parents conquer their fears

Because Iris Fiorine experiences on a daily basis in her job how many children are scared of dental treatment, the idea grew to write a children’s book about it. Never again scared of the dentist can be read to young children and read by somewhat older children. This informative book tells the story of Romy, a girl with toothache who fears the dentist. Based on several treatments and a well-communicated approach, she learns that she doesn’t need to be scared. It is a positively written story that can be used by many professionals to explain and clarify problems and to present possible solutions. It’s also a guideline to (re)

build confidence for children. There are also a lot of tips to help strive for optimal oral hygiene. From her experience in the field, Iris noticed that oral hygiene often leaves room for improvement. There’s a lot of progress to make on that front. With this book, the author hopes to contribute to good oral hygiene in a threshold-lowering manner and to stimulate basic dental care for children from a young age. It is an illustrative book for children, parents and grandparents to support them with that. Teachers can also use it to address the topic during their classes.

IRIS FIORINE is a dentist.

DON CROONENBERG

ZELENSKY, THE CLOWN AGAINST THE CZAR

Almost the entire world is in a state of shock after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And full of admiration for the young, relatively inexperienced president Volodymyr Zelensky. His political party is just four years old, founded in March 2018, and of course, he could never imagine that he would now be target number one, and his family target number two. Funny as a stand-up comedian, tough as head of state of a country in need. When the Americans offered him to flee Ukraine, he said he didn’t need a ride, he needed ammunition. Born to Jewish parents in a city founded by Kozaks, Zelensky was a familiar face as a tv comedian, in Russia as well. He appeared on the big screen in rom coms in which he would occasionally poke fun at Russian oligarchs. And then the world turned

upside down. Who is this servant of the people? Where does he come from? What makes him like he is? This is the story of a wandering law student, actor, author and satirist who, as the president of a tormented country, hopes to have the last laugh in the battle against a mad czar.

DON CROONENBERG (1958) is an advisor and an author. For years, he has been supporting (political) refugees, sticking up for the interests of status holders and organising development projects. Before, he wrote A fascinating, miserable job, an insightful and inspiring book about how leaders in business, politics, healthcare, media and education manage to weather the storm.

DON CROONENBERG

BIG GIRL

Big Girl Brittney Griner (BG) is arrested in Moscow in February with some medical hash oil in her suitcase. Just over half a year later, a Russian judge renders his verdict: nine years in a penal colony. The world in turmoil. Why this absurd sentence? Is she a pawn in a joust between two hostile world powers, with the war in Ukraine as a background? Why is her situation also a politically divisive issue in America, a nation already so massively divided? Will she be swapped with Victor Bout, the infamous Merchant of Death who is jailed in the US for arms trafficking and incitement to murder?

BG has been the focus of international media interest since she was sixteen and develops herself into one of the best, if not the best female basketball player of her age. Millions of fans watch her score, dunk and block like nobody else. Big Girl is the G.O.A.T. – the Greatest Of All Times. This book tells the story of BG’s tough youth full of racism, discrimination and bullying, her coming out in a staunchly conservative part of the United States and her efforts for Black Lives

Matter and the LGBTQ community. Read the bizarre story of an Olympic gold medal-winning basketball legend who, perhaps naively, spoke out her wish that politics should stay out of the court, from a barred box in a Russian court.

DON CROONENBERG is an advisor and an author. Apart from his work as a communications professional and a ghostwriter for businesses, he writes informative, accessible books about actual developments on the (political) world stage. He also committed to helping refugees and status holders from countries such as Eritrea, Syria and Afghanistan. Big Girl is the second part in Willems Uitgevers’ brand-new series of explanations for the modern ages. Part three will be out in spring 2023 and will be dedicated to emerging female leadership in Europe. Part I in this new series was Zelensky, the clown against the czar, which received positive reviews from both Flemish and Dutch press.

Basketball player Brittney Griner, political prisoner of Putin

‘I am terrified I might be here forever.’

ROB BEENDERS

MY HEARING CHALLENGE

How a hearing solution can truly improve your life

All too often, hearing impairments find themselves in a world of ‘shame’. Hearing aids are synonymous with ‘old’ and a cochlear implant is synonymous with ‘deaf and stupid’. Rob Beenders has experienced this all too often since he became hard of hearing. Nevertheless, the number of people with hearing impairments has been growing significantly, but people, on average, take seven years before they decide to pursue a solution. It’s about time for a positive story about hearing impairments. By pointing out that there actually are solutions and that you’re perfectly able to function at work, enjoy your hobbies and go to the pub with your mates.

Rob Beenders wants to start a debate in society and advocates that the government continues to invest in hearing solutions, as this allows people to, once again, make use of

their talents and partake in social life. Choosing hearing solutions also slows down cognitive decline and dementia. My hearing journey must also stimulate others to tell their experiences. Everybody who chooses a hearing solution has a unique story, if we all pass it on, we inspire those people who today still find themselves in the denial stage.

Author ROB BEENDERS (41), a former city councillor in Hasselt and former Flemish MP, doesn’t currently feel like somebody who has hearing difficulties, even if he wears a cochlear implant on his left side and a compatible hearing aid on his right. He works full-time as a market manager for Cochlear Benelux, enjoys running and has a busy social life.

RONALD MEEUS

BONUS LEVEL

An adventure through 60 years of video games

Video games raise more than 120 billion euros annually, not bad for the kind of childish, addictive, violent, socially worthless entertainment for which they are usually branded. Bonus Level takes you on a discovery tour through this still largely misunderstood first entertainment medium of the age of information, it broadens your view on it and points out its undeniable artistic and cultural powers. Ronald Meeus uses over forty years of experience as a gamer and has also been following the medium’s rapid development as a journalist for over half that time. He interviewed dozens of key figures in the industry, such as Shigeru Miyamoto (Super Mario Bros.), Richard Garriott (Ultima), David Cage (Heavy Rain), Neil Druckmann (The Last of Us), Peter Molyneux (Fable), Toru Iwatani (Pac-Man), Ron Gilbert (Monkey Island) and Yu Suzuki (Out Run). His decades of fieldwork, often behind the scenes at the companies where the

games are developed, delivers a successful book that finally offers a broad audience a clear view of the phenomenon but also surprises frantic gamers with background information and fun facts. The foreword is written by game expert Jan Meijroos, who writes and wrote for, amongst other publications, Bright.nl, Playboy, Business Insider, IGN.nl, Power Unlimited, Metro, Discovery Magazine, Veronica Magazine and Tweakers.net.

RONALD MEEUS (1973) writes about video games, technology and popular culture. Some of the places where his work has been published are De Morgen, Invader, 9lives, HLN.be, AD.nl, Data News, Trends, Knack, Humo, Clickx, PC Magazine, FWD: Magazine and The Escapist. He has a daughter and divides his time between Diest, Dilsen-Stokkem and the rest of the world.

ronaldmeeus.be

MADINA HAMIDI

LIVING IN TRUTH

In 1999, Madina Hamidi fled Afghanistan with her mother, brother and four sisters after the Taliban killed her father. Upon arrival in Belgium, she realised she hadn’t completely finished fleeing. The strictly religious and cultural rules set by her family and community would ensure her life turned into an open-air prison. The psychological impact that caused, ensured that her inner world became a torture chamber with a seemingly endless stream of misery. Escaping from that suppression would require many sacrifices. The world of the Afghan community, just like all other collectivist Islamist cultures, struggles with contrasts and complications. The experience of ex-Muslims could form a useful source and a paragon for those who feel chained by inflexible religious and cultural commands. Their function as role models could save innumerable lives of people who were the victims of death threats because of religious abandonment, accusations of blasphemy because of critical questions, family estrangement due to apostasy

and social boycotts following dissidence and being different. Nevertheless, Madina proves that respect, acceptance and living in harmony is in fact possible between the religious and atheists. To that end, neither group needs to give up authenticity, theorems or beliefs. Because both worlds share humanism as the most crucial building block. The only requirement is that both parties are prepared to have an intellectual encounter.

MADINA HAMIDI (1987) promotes freedom of choice, conscience and religion. She also writes columns for the online platforms of Knack and Vlinks. She works as a psycho traumatologist. Before, she wrote an autobiographic literal roman From hell to heaven. What stands out about her personality is that whatever she says about controversial topics is always accompanied by het drive and love for justice. She has an unquenchable thirst for more knowledge that can light the path to the truth.

KAREL MICHIELS SVEN MASSART

MAGIC MATHIEU

Mathieu van der Poel’s miracle years

With a terrific performance in the Amstel Gold Race, Mathieu van der Poel announced himself as one of global cycling’s superstars on April 21, 2019. The young Dutchman had been performing well during the spring but put the cherry on the cake by emerging victorious in the Dutch classic.

More than the win itself, it was the manner of victory that surprised people. Van der Poel ruled in the Limburg hills as few had done before him. And he does all of that seemingly effortlessly, with a sense of joy typical for rookies. His natural talent, his eagerness and his youthful enthusiasm, his willingness to attack and his rest proved the perfect cocktail to create a new cycling champion.

That was then, this is now: two years on and Mathieu van der Poel is in with the world’s best. He won the 2020 Tour of Flanders, edging out

Wout van Aert by inches, and he came second in 2021. He took the title in the Strade Bianchi and won stages in the Tour of Switzerland and the Tirreno Adriatico. Above all, he took the lead in the Tour de France after winning a stage and maintained the yellow jersey for six days. Movingly, he dedicated that to Raymond Poulidor, his late grandfather.

SVEN MASSART (1975) previously wrote Een dag uit het leven van Mathieu van der Poel, which was reprinted several times. He closely followed cycling for years for press agency Belga and newspaper De Tijd. He also wrote Leuven Loopt Voorop. Innovatie in de Europese Sportstad.

KAREL MICHIELS (1960) wrote biographies about several sporting heroes, such as Juan Lozano, Rik Coppens and Marieke Vervoort.

BART LAMERS

WONDER WOUT

Wout van Aert’s miracle years

Friday July 19, 2019, was the ‘9/11’ for Flemish cycling fans: they all know where they were when Wout van Aert’s Tour de France, which had started so brilliantly, ended abruptly. His horrific crash in Pau and a terrible wound on his right thigh saw the hearts of his supporters sink. Were we witnessing an incredible career in cycling falling apart here and now? Think again, for we are witnessing a man of incredible character and seemingly endless physical capabilities. He surprised us time and time again and, in two years’ time, grew into the world’s most versatile cyclist, a man capable to triumph under all circumstances.

He added wins in Gent-Wevelgem, the Amstel Gold Race, the Belgian championship and three resounding victories in Tour de France stages to 2020, his miracle year. On top of the Ventoux, against the clock and on the Champs-Elysées:

Wout, Wout and Wout! Surgeon Toon Claes took us back to the tense hours on the operating table, we closely followed Wout’s comeback and his scintillating successes and delved into the unique cycling culture of Lille, of which he is an exponent.

A document that helps explain the phenomenon that is Wout van Aert in a pulsating manner.

BART LAMERS (1967) is a freelance editor and copywriter with a big love for sports and he’s got both his feet firmly on the Campine’s sandy soil. He reports on football and cycling for De Zondag. His weekly column in De Streekkrant is one of the places where he shows his exquisite taste for local stories, which he reports on with empathy.

RUNNING AGAINST THE WIND

Let Iranian women enter their stadiums

Introducing Darya Safai - to the extent that it would still be necessary.

With her worldwide campaign ‘Let Iranian women enter their stadiums’ Darya is taking action for the benefit of women’s rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. She gained international fame during the Olympic Games in Rio when she protested peacefully with her banner during

a volleyball match of Iran. When Darya was forcibly removed by the police she bursted out in tears. The emotion had gotten hold of her because her pain was too big. She strives for something which should be completely normal in 2016: that any woman, anywhere in the world, may participate and watch sports. That is not the case in her native country Iran.

KIM OLTHOF

OUR LFC TATTOOS AROUND THE WORLD

This book truly is an emotional rollercoaster of stories from Liverpool fans around the world. Supporters from all continents, men and women, between the ages of 21 and 60 tell their personal stories through their LFC tattoos.

The book shows the pure and true love for Liverpool FC around the world. Love that runs so deep that people even have it tattooed on their skins forever. This book proves that no matter where you were born or how your life turns out, when you deeply share a love and passion, like we all do for Liverpool FC, there are no frontiers.

The book also includes stories from a Liverpool Legend, a tattoo artist that has tattooed some of the current Liverpool stars and Liverpool fans who had their tattoos signed and inked by some of the greatest Liverpool players of all times.

The book could not have been written without the help of all the Liverpool fans who sent in their stories and pictures and without the support of Liverpool FC, Liverpool legends, The 23 Foundation, The Anfield Wrap and many official supporters clubs around the world.

KIM OLTHOF is a 42-year old Liverpool fan from The Netherlands. She lives in a small place called Huijbergen together with her partner Dirck Coeck and their two dogs Fenna and landor. Kim has been a Liverpool supporter ever since she was about nine years old and visited Anfield for the very first time in 1996, when she was 17. Dirk and Kim met a few years ago when a few Flemish Reds joined Dutch Liverpool fans for one of the events from the official supporters club of The Netherlands, of which Kim is currently the president.

Dirk and Kim have been inseperable ever since and their lives currently consist of Liverpool FC, their dogs and… tattoos! They both had Liverpool tattoos when they met, but ever since they have been together, the desire to combine their biggest passions has grown more and more each day as they found out that they can both express their deepest emotions and their biggest loves best through their tattoos. In total they now share eight Liverpool related tattoos between them and wear them with proud.

RAF WILLEMS

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF EDEN HAZARD

Eden Hazard (1991) started playing football in his garden aged about three, in the winter of 1994. His garden was in fact the ancient little stadium of Royal Stade Brainois, located next to his parents’ house. Twenty-five years later, on Thursday, June 13, 2019, he was presented by Real Madrid as the ‘new Galactico’, the world’s most successful football team thus far. Between the Garden of Eden and the world’s main temple of football, from Braine to the Bernabeu.

RAF WILLEMS (1960) is a football author who has written many books.

JAN WILLEM SPAANS

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF VIRGIL VAN DIJK

Most elite Dutch footballers have been trained as such. The Netherlands is full of professional football academies. Who walks around the Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord academy on a Saturday morning, will meet the next generation of elite footballers. No stone is left unturned to make them successful. It was a bit different for Virgil van Dijk. His teammates at the national team, take Memphis Depay, Frenkie de Jong or Matthijs de Ligt, were household names at nineteen. At that age, Virgil joined FC Groningen because he couldn’t break through at Willem II. Nine years on, the colossus from Breda has grown into world football’s best centre-back. On

June 1, he put the crown on his work: Man of the Match in the Champions League final in which his Liverpool side beat Tottenham Hotspur. A story about an unpaved journey to the top!

JAN WILLEM SPAANS (1995) has been into English football and Liverpool for about as long as he can remember. The 27-year-old Amsterdammer saw his Reds transform from a topsy-turvy outfit to one of Europe’s best sides under Jürgen Klopp. A development catalysed by Virgil van Dijk. Spaans works as a freelance football reporter.

RAF WILLEMS

HEROES OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Richly-illustrated bookzine

Thirty years ago, in 1992, the first edition of a new football business model started: the Champions League. The first tournament was won by Olympique de Marseille. Led by coach Raymond Goethals. Over the years, the original format grew into the world’s biggest competition. The television rights were sold for huge sums across all corners of the globe and the best games were no longer played during national team tournaments, but in the Champions League. Four pages are taken out to shed light on each year’s victor, using photography and graphics.

This is a bookazine suitable for a broad audience. Amongst others, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Bayern, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Barça triumphed in the new version of ‘Old Big Ears’.

RAF WILLEMS (1960) is a publisher as well as a football author: writer of books and blogs about football, in serial form, both about the global and the Belgian game. But, above all, passionate about Old Big Ears, the nickname of the European Cup.

RAF WILLEMS

THE GOLDEN BOOK OF ... THE EUROPEAN CUP 1956-1992

Exactly thirty years ago, the last true edition of the league of champions was played. It started with Alfredo di Stefano’s Real Madrid, and it finished with manager Johan Cruyff’s FC Barcelona. Because whoever wanted to win Old Big Ears, needed to either win their domestic league, or be title holders. Between 1956 and 1991, the classic rules were maintained: two legs, home and away. No back doors, a simple case of all or nothing. It wasn’t until the 1991-92 season that experiments with group stage matches first appeared. On June 12, 1956, it was the triumphant Alfredo di Stefano who, representing Real Madrid, showed Big Ears in the stunning evening lights, to a raucous crowd at the Parc des Princes. The balding Argentinian wizard didn’t realise that, by doing so, he symbolised a crucial change in football history. The European Cup was born. An era of passion, magic, corruption and tragedy had begun. To this fascinating backdrop, people reconciled, glorious sporting triumphs wept out political humiliations, or football turned into war. Pop

music found its way into stadiums and comparisons were made between football and cultural expressions like theatre, literature and dance. Thousands were gripped by this adventure and could never again rid themselves of this obsession. Traditional clubs obtained international fame: Real Madrid, Benfica, AC Milan, Internazionale, Celtic, Manchester United, Feyenoord, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Hamburg, Juventus, Porto, PSV, FC Barcelona. They owe their glory to Old Big Ears. Thirty years ago, the world of elite football changed itself into a ‘business model’. With the rise of the Champions League, the era of the dream ended.

RAF WILLEMS (1960) is a publisher as well as a football author: writer of books and blogs about football, in serial form, both about the global and the Belgian game. But, above all, passionate about Old Big Ears, the nickname of the European Cup.

PETER GENYN

The absolute superstar amongst Paralympians

WHEELCHAIR RACER

Aged sixteen, Peter dived into a shallow pond. He fractured his neck (a C6 fracture) and became paralysed in all his limbs. Suddenly, Peter’s life looked wholly different. He didn’t let it get him down, though. On his road to recovery, he discovered wheelchair rugby. Few people in Belgium knew about the sport at that time. Peter grew into an international rugby star until fate dealt him a second blow. In November 2018, he fractured his upper leg after his front wheels got stuck between two cobblestones. He had to undergo a very complex operation, and it was deemed too dangerous for him to continue playing rugby. Again, Peter refused to let it get to him and embraced the ‘wheeler’. In there, Peter found his speed once again and he tried his hand at athletics. He ended up champion of Belgium, Europe, the world and the Paralympics. Particularly his achievements at the 2020 Tokyo

Paralympics received widespread admiration. After his wheeler was sabotaged just before the match, he won the gold medal anyway!

PETER GENYN (1976) wants to show with this book that Paralympians also have to live and work like elite athletes if they want to be on top. ‘Self-pity will get you nowhere: look how sweet, that disabled guy is allowed a try at sports. Just like able-bodied athletes, there is no mercy amongst our competitors. Quite the opposite. We all want that gold medal, that title, that world record. It’s an equally tough battle. As Paralympians, we all have our own history and we carry that into our lives as athletes. In my opinion, that makes our way to the top even more interesting and more challenging than that of an able-bodied elite athlete.’

LIESBETH

LIFE TASTES GOOD

A cooking guide for everyday freedom

The first cookery book in which words do also matter. Apart from original recipes, this also contains a formula for a pleasant, enriching rendezvous. With ups and downs and many doubts, Liesbeth Verboomen was looking for her own path to success. She encountered nice things on her way. People complimented her on the fact that beauty belongs to her. And on how good the food she prepared was – she worked as a chef at De Heerlijckyt van Elsmeren for eight years. Her recipes made people happy and would even enter the kitchen saying: ‘There’s love in your food.’ During the first lockdown, she wrote a text on Facebook every night before going to sleep. Her words brought courage, consolation, recognition, and a smile to readers’ faces. They were received warmly. This exercise led her to her true wish: putting together a book in which she can bring life in a very different way. To her,

that is inseparable from ‘being a human’. That’s why Liesbeth sees Life tastes good as a ‘guide for everyday freedom’. She wants to use it to be close to people, to give people courage, to stimulate attention for (inner) beauty, encourage people to follow their own voice, grow confidence and incite connection. That deeper connection is her wish for the readers and she wants to achieve it through her inspiring, joyful cookery book Life tastes good.

LIESBETH VERBOOMEN (1967) is in charge of the company Mens in Contact, where she guides people towards personal growth, looking to name the deepening layer in every human life. From Mens in Contact, she hands out the manual to everyone. She also worked as a chef for eight years.

111 LEGENDARY FOOTBALL HEROES SINCE 1920

One hundred and eleven legendary football heroes since 1920.

One hundred footballers. Ten goalkeepers. And one exceptional genius (Diego Maradona). Who are they, the one hundred best players in world football’s history? How about the ten goalkeepers? And the exceptional genius? We’ll give that one away already: Diego Maradona, a man who transcends football. Though competitive football has been around since 1850, the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp are considered the starting point of modern football. A century ago, Belgium won gold and Louis – christened Luigi following five years at Milan – Van Hege was the first superstar. He was followed by heroes like Andrade, Sindelar, Meazza, Braine, Happel, Puskas, Di Stefano and Garrincha. Football burst open from 1960 onwards. The world met Best, Charlton, Yashin, Pelé, Cruyff, Van

Hanegem, Van Himst, Beckenbauer and Netzer. They made way for Maradona, Dalglish, Platini, Gullit, Van Basten, Ceulemans, Pfaff, Romario and Zidane. Since the turn of the century, Giggs, Lahm, Iniesta, Xavi, Neuer, Robben, Kompany, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and De Bruyne have been the best players.

Raf Willems (1960) has been studying the lives of legendary footballers since 1990. In both glowing and tender contemplations, he puts together a personal profile for each of the 111 best players in world football’s history. Hardcover book with a photo of each player. Unique, original photography by international photo agencies.

SEKA DOBRIC

THE STORY OF SEKA

Seka Dobric is well known to Belgian audiences as MRS Belgium Globe and TV personality. She is also a self-made businesswoman, but above all a loving and devoted mother to her two sons.

Born in a poverty-stricken and dysfunctional family, Seka understood at a very young age that knowledge and education was the only way out.

Seka graduated magna cum laude from the University of Sarajevo and is a professor of English language and literature.

She began her modelling career as a winner of ‘The Model of The Year’. Soon after, Seka won the prestigious pageant ‘Mrs. Globe Belgium’ which empowers the strong women in the world. She starred in TV shows and realities, currently she is a host of a popular podcast show #On The Sofa With Seka.

Seka is one of the founders of Boeken. cafe, the platform that celebrates the written word, authors and books published in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In addition to being a philanthropist, Seka is tirelessly committed to helping children who are less fortunate. Seka is author of the bestselling true story, published by Boeken. cafe (March 2020). Proceeds from this book are donated to the Seka Dobric Foundation. It is a non-profit organization that is providing home and education to the orphans.

‘You must keep the door open’ is a life statement she makes in her book The Story of Seka.

Her book is about strength, determination, hope and never giving up on your dreams. Just like Seka herself.

BEN DECKERS

SEX & DRUGS & DE BRASSERS (AND THEN?)

Jimi Hendrix. Lou Reed. Ben looked up to that when he was young. Rock stars who had plenty of sex and indulged in drugs. Rock eventually became punk, and later De Brassers.

Ben has been drinking to the fullest on sex and drugs. Until suddenly there was nothing left.

In this book, Deckers tells his own story in his own words. Impressions and memories whirl past, some incomplete and fragmentary, others elaborated in detail, as the memory wishes. His wild punk years in the north of Limburg, his experiences as a keyboard player for De Brassers, his immersion in the Antwerp drug scene, his four years in rehab and several relapses, the victory he finally won on himself and all the good things that this resulted: with heart on his tongue, Ben

looks back on a life of trial and error, from sexual and musical highs to moments of deep despair and misery.

Sex & Drugs & De Brassers (And Then?) is the most brazen and candid rock biography ever published in Flanders. Which the author, as a punk and free spirit, also owes to himself for life.

BEN DECKERS (1962) played guitar and synthesizer with the legendary Belgian punk and cold wave band De Brassers between 1980 and 1995. After he had kicked the habit, he set up three highly acclaimed solo theater monologues under the name Chernotrip. He obtained a diploma in orthopedagogy, sets up cultural projects for the Jobcentres and exhibits his own paintings.

The most brash and candid Flemish punk rock biography