Quality Non-Fiction from Holland - Autumn 2019 - Nederlands Letterenfonds
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Quality
Non-Fiction
from Holland
N ederlands
letterenfonds
dutch foundation
for literature Autumn 2019
2 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Dutch Foundation for Literature
The Dutch Foundation for Literature has the Writers-in-Residence Dutch Foundation
task of supporting writers and translators, The Foundation coordinates writer-in-residence for Literature
Nieuwe Prinsengracht 89
and of promoting Dutch literature abroad. programmes together with foreign universities
NL – 1018 VR Amsterdam
It is an independent organization, supported and institutions. International authors are invited t +31 20 520 73 00
by the Ministry of Education, Culture and to spend time working in Amsterdam. They may post@letterenfonds.nl
Science. stay one or two months at the writers’ lodgings www.letterenfonds.nl
above the Athenaeum Bookshop on the Spui.
The Foundation’s advisors on literary fiction, Non-Fiction
quality non-fiction, poetry and children’s and International Visitors Programme
youth literature are present each year at The visitors programme and the annual
prominent book fairs, including Frankfurt, Amsterdam Fellowships offer publishers and
London, Beijing and Bologna. Books from editors the opportunity to acquaint themselves
Holland, Quality Non-Fiction from Holland and with the publishing business and the literary
Children’s Books from Holland recommend infrastructure of the Netherlands.
highlights from each category’s selection.
Translators’ House Mireille Berman
Translation Grants The Translators’ House offers translators the m.berman@letterenfonds.nl
Foreign publishers wishing to publish a trans opportunity to live and work in Amsterdam for
lation of Dutch or Frisian literature may apply for a period of time. It is involved with numerous
a subsidy towards the translation costs. Having activities assisting and advancing translators’
acquired the rights, the publisher’s application skills. Each year the Literary Translation Days are
must be accompanied by a copy of the contract held for those translating into and from Dutch.
with the rights owner and a copy of the
contract with the translator. Application forms Schwob: Discovering International Classic
are available from the Foundation’s website. Works of Fiction
Michele Hutchison
Subsidies are paid after receipt of complimen- Schwob draws attention to and supports as-yet m.hutchison@letterenfonds.nl
tary copies, with printed acknowledgement of undiscovered, untranslated classics of world
the Foundation’s support. A sample translation literature. Each month the editors select new Fiction
may be required and evaluated by our external titles on www.schwob.nl. Barbara den Ouden
Eastern and Middle Europe,
advisors. Applications for translations that have
Mediterranean countries, Russia
already been published cannot be taken into b.den.ouden@letterenfonds.nl
consideration. Publishers looking for a qualified
translator can request a list of endorsed Victor Schiferli
translators for their language area. Scandinavia, Germany,
English-language countries
and poetry
Illustrated Books v.schiferli@letterenfonds.nl
In the case of illustrated children’s books and/or
graphic novels, foreign publishers can apply for Tiziano Perez
assistance to cover a portion of the production Brazil, China
t.perez@letterenfonds.nl
costs.
Alexandra Koch
Promotional Travel Schwob
The Foundation is able to support a publisher a.koch@letterenfonds.nl
wishing to invite an author for interviews or
Children’s Books
public appearances. Literary festivals are
Agnes Vogt
likewise eligible for support. Additionally, the a.vogt@letterenfonds.nl
Foundation organises international literary
events in co-operation with local publishers, See also
festivals and book fairs. en.letterenfonds.nl
3 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Roanne van Voorst
We Used to Eat Animals
How to prepare for a vegetarian future
In the last thirty years veganism has to outline the factors underlying this Roanne van Voorst (b. 1983) is
exploded among younger generations fundamental cultural shift away from an anthropologist and writer of
non-fiction as well as fiction. She is
around the world. Today it’s not just animal products — 750 million vegans in
the author of various books including
popular and mainstream: #vegan effuses 2015 as compared to just a few million the praised You Are Different
success, sexiness; it’s cool. While most of worldwide in the 1990s. from Us: Young and Immigrant in
us grew up eating ‘essential’ animal Diving into history, the author interro- the Netherlands (2010) and The
products, the greater conscious shift gates the seemingly iron-wrought (read: Best Place In the World: Living in
the Slums of Jakarta (2016).
away from those same products, be it as marketing-wrought) narratives surround-
a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian, is ing our current diet convictions and Publishing details
gaining a momentum that will soon be addresses nutrition concerns (yes, there Ooit aten wij dieren (2019)
hard, if not impossible to stop. are other sources of protein). What do 256 pp.
recent food hypes like kale and poke Podium
English sample available
According to anthropologist Roanne van bowls have in common with established
Voorst, we are living in one of history’s and trusted friends milk and whole grain Rights
transitional moments, a fundamental cereal? She also investigates modern US & World Rights: HarperOne
tipping point. More and more scientists intensive farming techniques, cognitive Catherine Barbosa-Ross
and futurists predict that eating meat and dissonance and veganism’s influence on catherine.barbosa-ross
@harpercollins.com
dairy will be banned or become taboo. Our our sense of self, while speaking with
vegan grandchildren will ask us how we farm owners who have made the switch. Photo: Tjitske van Leeuwen
ever could have lived and eaten as we did. Van Voorst examines our diet’s part in
The idea that every week more animals are gender roles and sexuality, as we are
killed for human consumption than introduced to ‘vegansexuals’ and asked to
humans who have died in all wars in take a hard look at meat’s place in Western
human history combined is something we masculinity.
can hardly imagine now and may struggle Not changing our diets is no longer an
to understand in the future. option: ‘When you have the freedom to
It is difficult, however, to abandon such choose what you eat, every meal is a
fundamental beliefs, especially without an political action, a decision to support
alternative vision of how you can still eat certain suppliers, and to boycott others.
good food and stay healthy. How to It is an investment in one food’s develop-
imagine a vegetarian future? Van Voorst ment over another.’
uses her personal journey as a springboard
‘Van Voorst discusses dozens of
confirmations for her positive
message in daily life and history, and
cleverly alternates them with her
personal experiences, intelligent
observations and practically the
entire, mammoth dossier of Horrific
Examples from the food industry.’
– De Volkskrant
‘A new course in times of climate
shame and anxiety’
– Het Parool
4 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Corien van Zweden
Breasts
A Biography
An accessible and enlightening narrative-led investigation
of this intimate body part
When the doctors tell Corien van Zwe- generational and cultural divides. How are Corien van Zweden (b. 1962)
den, after a recurrence of cancer, that her women’s attitudes to their bodies affected studied Theology and has been
working as a freelance journalist
left breast will need to be removed, she by a society in which today’s teenagers are
since 1994. She writes on themes
is startled by their presumption that an literally bombarded with hundreds of such as health care and psychiatry,
immediate ‘reconstruction’ is what she thousands of images to compare them- education and development aid.
wants, or indeed needs. With more selves with? The market for enlargement In 2008, she published The Art of
questions than answers, she resolves to and reduction surgeries grows in leaps and Grieving, which she followed up in
2015 with A Bite Out of the Sun:
understand her breasts on a biological bounds each year.
Five Faces of Cancer.
level, but also to recognize what they Van Zweden expands on these experi-
mean to her, to other women and to ences at each of the breast’s three life Publishing details
society as a whole. stages — growth, blossoming and de- Borsten. De levensloop van
cline — and dives into the current debates, een intiem lichaamsdeel (2019)
285 pp.
In this investigative biography, Van Zweden including why women have breasts (that
De Bezige Bij
leads readers through the many transfor they attract men is a disputed theory), how English sample available
mations breasts undergo as well as their to weigh up the benefits of breastfeeding
shifting roles from the day a girl first notices against the (environmental) toxins present Rights
her nipples changing, to what one third of in breast milk, and the psychology of Marianne Schönbach Agency
Marianne Schönbach
women will later face — breast cancer, and prosthetics. We meet plastic surgeons,
m.schonbach@schonbach.nl
then to the changes brought about by sexologists, porn stars, philosophers and
menopause. The only body part that we lactation experts as Van Zweden consults Rights sold
are not born with, the breast’s unique the latest scientific research and delves Poland (Wydawictwo Kobiece
ability to transform itself on a cellular level into history to trace changes in the ways Lukasz Kierus)
tragically makes it more susceptible to we experience breasts — big and small,
Photo: Hanna Hachula
cancer. Roughly a quarter of all tumours hidden or revealed — and their indisput-
occur in the breasts; numbers which are able role in femininity.
only increasing in the western world. The story of the breast is not just the
Though told primarily through the story of the woman who has them, but the
window of her own experiences, Breasts story of those who behold them and who
offers a mosaic of women’s testimonies, judge them, and the professionals who
detailing their relationship with their concern themselves with them. At the end
breasts, be it one of apathy, obsession, joy, of the book, Van Zweden poignantly
sadness, pride or disgust. These multiple reveals why she finally decides not to have
and complex feelings are often dictated by her breast replaced.
‘That Breasts has something melancholic about it,
turns out to be Van Zweden’s greatest merit.
Because that is how we withdraw the female body
from the sexualized gaze: by sometimes letting
things also be sad.’
– De Groene Amsterdammer
‘Van Zweden undertakes a more than worthy
attempt to clear up a large part of our ignorance
about breasts.’
– HUMO
‘An enlightening book that every woman
should read.’
– ZIN
5 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Jelmer Mommers
How Are We Going to Explain This?
Our Future On An Ever Warmer Planet
A timely overview, with a positive slant,
of the latest science on climate change
Climate change’s complexity and its regulators. In a society historically based Jelmer Mommers (b. 1987) reports
abstract future consequences make it on abusing the planet’s ‘infinite’ resources on climate change for De Corres
pondent. In 2017 he made world
difficult to fathom, let alone feel empow- for short-term gain, what role have
news when he unearthed an old
ered enough to address. In How Are We businesses and governments played? What climate film made by Shell. In 2018
Going to Explain This? Jelmer Mommers are the very serious issues with the easy he published internal Shell docu-
presents a disarmingly concise and ‘solutions’ they are now reaching for? ments, which later provided the
considered explanation of the global No less crucial is to know where we are basis for Milieudefensie’s lawsuit
against the Dutch company.
climate crisis and reveals the effective headed, or can go. Besides presenting a
Previously Mommers worked as
tools a growing movement is turning to. clear spectrum of future outcomes be- a researcher and online editor at
Tools you can pick up today to help create tween business as usual and collectively De Groene Amsterdammer, the
and maintain a sustainable future. achieving the optimistic UN Climate Goal investigative journalism platform
of holding the global temperature increase Investico and De Gids.
Drawing on the latest research and to 1.5°C, Mommers helps us picture the
Publishing details
statistics, Mommers makes it painfully shocking differences between a planet Hoe gaan we dit uitleggen? (2019)
clear: climate change is the single greatest heated by 1.5°C and one by 2.0°C. In doing 240 pp.
threat facing our species. If left unchecked, so, he leaves no doubt that every decimal De Correspondent
it will affect the economies of 90% of the point of change is worth fighting for. 10,000 copies sold
English sample available
world’s population. From nomadic The author examines the political, legal
hunter-gatherers with little effect on the and individual means we have as citizens Rights
planet we have become an advanced and consumers to force the necessary Janklow & Nesbit Associates
industrial civilization that has unwittingly shift. Among other cases, we learn how Rebecca Carter
managed to delay the next ice age while action group Urgenda sued the Dutch rcarter@janklow.co.uk
simultaneously placing our world at risk. government for gross negligence, and
Rights sold
Mommers’ analysis pinpoints the won, forcing the state to cut emissions, World English (Profile Books)
philosophical, historical and economic and inspiring similar lawsuits around the
roots of the world view that has led world. Divestment campaigns, political
humanity to this moment, from Descartes parties, consumer boycotts, changing the
to Capitalism and the Industrial Revolu- ways in which we travel — ever pragmatic,
tion. Enlisting the help of graphs and Mommers readily admits that this is
diagrams from climate reports, he deftly a process that will take longer in some
illustrates climate change’s mechanics, sectors than others — nevertheless,
and how human activity is overwhelming a sustainable future is achievable.
the planet’s natural greenhouse gas
‘Crystal clear and rousing. Mommers can
explain the climate story like no other — clearly
and convincingly.’ David Van Reybrouck, author
of Congo and Against Democracy
‘Mommers shows that we must enter into a slow
and difficult battle that will prove worthwhile.
The goal is an inhabitable planet.’
– New Scientist
6 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Geert Mak
Great Expectations
In Europe II, 1999–2019
Mak traces the loss of European optimism
and the dismantling of the postwar order
While In Europe (2004) covered the polar region to the tragic shores of Lampe- Geert Mak was born in 1946. His
tumultuous 20th century and the legacy of dusa, and from the Muslim suburbs of books have been translated into 22
languages; well-known English titles
the two world wars, Great Expectations Copenhagen to the halls of power in
include Amsterdam, My Father’s
takes stock of the early 21st century. Mak Putin’s ‘new and patriotic’ Moscow, Mak Century, In Europe, In America:
turns his keen eye to the controversial explores the remains of Europe’s old Travels with Steinbeck, and The
roll-out of the euro, the impact of terror- dreams — peace, prosperity, democracy, Many Lives of Jan Six. He has won
ism, the evaporation of European opti- and growing unity — and today’s night- wide critical acclaim in the interna-
tional press and numerous awards,
mism, post-communist life in Eastern mares: the new arms race, populism,
including the Leipziger Buchpreis
Europe and Russia, the financial crisis, Russian espionage, climate change... ‘It and the Prins Bernhard Prize.
the transatlantic relationship, northern was strange to cycle around Amsterdam, A television series based on Great
versus southern Europe, and the refugees. which is partly under sea level, and realize Expectations will air on Dutch
that after its centuries-long history, its television, radio and online in the
autumn of 2019.
Picking up where In Europe left off, at the days are numbered.’ Will Germany rise to
euphoric, neoliberal start of the new its new geopolitical role? Will the region’s Publishing details
millennium, Mak looks at how Europe’s squabbling nation-states rediscover their Grote verwachtingen. In Europa,
values met with unprecedented challenges solidarity? 1999 – 2019 (November 2019)
from without and within. We learn of Mak writes, ‘Once we thought Western 496 pp.
Atlas Contact
Putin’s carefully orchestrated career, the freedom and democracy would gradually
rising fear of jihad after the 9/11 attacks, spread to the East and the rest of the English sample available online:
the uncomfortable process of enlarging world. Now we seem to be witnessing the https://www.beerights.com/author/
the European Union, ‘the large-scale opposite trend. Europe is uncertain, geert-mak/
drowning of Africa’s poor’ in the Mediter- divided, and weakened. Russia seizes every
Rights
ranean, the rejection of the European opportunity to sow new discord. China
Bee Rights
Constitution, the causes and tremendous has rushed to fill the gaps left by Western Marijke Nagtegaal
costs of the banking crisis, the resurfacing Europe in Central Europe, the Balkans, m.nagtegaal@debezigebij.nl
of antisemitism in Poland, the success of and Greece. Still further West, the Ameri- www.beerights.com/contact/
populist parties in Eastern and Western can president is pursuing much the same
Europe, the great euro crisis observed policy of destabilization as the Russians Photo: Merlijn Doomernik
from a street corner in Athens, the racism and rapidly dismantling the rules and
faced by immigrants in the wealthy West, institutions of the postwar world order.
the rise of the ‘tourist destination’, Catalo- The old, transatlantic world of the late
nia’s national dream, and the mounting twentieth century is, in the words of the
unease in the face of Trump and Brexit. New York Times columnist Roger Cohen,
In a vast sweep from Norway’s melting “gone, man, solid gone.”'
On In Europe:
‘Moving across a vivid historical
landscape, his portrait of Europe, in
all her bloody barbarism and civilised
glory, helps us confront exactly what
we need to know…. a timely book, and
one we can’t afford to ignore.’
– Daily Telegraph
‘His genius as a historian is his instinct
for human stories… Mak is the history
teacher everyone should have had.’
– Financial Times
7 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Abram de Swaan
Against Women
The Fight against Emancipation
The history, the global transformations powering the rise of women,
and the backlash
Over the past fifty years, education has educational reform. Women have made Abram de Swaan was awarded the
improved, especially for girls and young their way into all levels of the school and prestigious position of University
Professor of Social Science at the
women, and machines have taken over the university system, even in countries where
University of Amsterdam in 2001.
heavy work traditionally done by men. you would least expect it. And higher levels His many teaching appointments
This has liberated many women from of education have been shown to raise included the Collège de France in
dependence on men for financial support women’s feminist consciousness, making Paris and Columbia University in
or physical protection and allowed them them more likely to have fewer children. New York. De Swaan’s most
successful books include In Care
to flourish in the workplace. But now, While the inequalities between women and
of the State, Words of the World,
men’s wounded pride is leading to men remain very real, De Swaan points to and The Killing Compartments, all
tensions. the huge strides taken over the past forty published in English editions. His
years in areas such as politics, health care writings have been translated into
Swaan sees the rise of the new extreme and the work force and explains why twelve languages. He was a
columnist for the national news
right, Christian fundamentalism, and emancipation can only continue to spread.
paper NRC Handelsblad for many
jihadism as a response to women’s libera- This sets the stage for the groundbreak- years and won the prestigious P.C.
tion. This is his simple thesis, which he ing third section, in which de Swaan Hooft Prize in 2008 for his oeuvre.
proves in three steps. His first section is sketches the origins of opposition to
a lucid overview of the many ways patriar- women’s liberation. He lays out the Publishing details
Tegen de vrouwen. De wereldwijde
chies exercise their ‘reign of terror’ over evidence for the surprising theory that
strijd van rechtsisten en jihadisten
women. Girl babies are tossed out like such disparate groups as jihadists, evangel- tegen de emancipatie (2019)
rubbish, girls are forced to marry adult ical Christians, Latin American machos, 240 pp.
men (‘nothing more than legalized paedo- ultraorthodox Jews and the secular Prometheus
philia’), and their genitals and faces are extreme right are entrenched in sexism English sample available
permanently mutilated. As young women, and motivated by the same ‘male resent-
Rights
they face threats such as rape and honour ment’. Along the way, he offers glimpses of Prometheus (English),
killings. De Swaan avoids the fallacy of their terrifying misogynistic subcultures, Le Seuil (all others)
‘anti-Islamic enthusiasm’, instead showing such as the alt-right online forums where foreignrights@pbo.nl
how all forms of dogmatism support the women are, at best, the bearers of ‘bounc- droitsetrangers@seuil.com
ideology of male supremacy and pointing ing baby whites’.
Rights sold
out the many forms of male dominance In Against Women, Abram de Swaan French (Le Seuil)
that persist in the West. steers a sure course through the minefields
The second section describes the of contemporary cultural politics and never
unstoppable rise of women in today’s shies from confronting blind spots and
world, which he attributes mainly to prejudice, even his own.
‘An exceptionally lively and readable account
that fearlessly makes its way through today’s
political minefields with a mix of
sociological insights, level-headed self-
analysis, and cut-the-crap reasoning.’
– Trouw
‘De Swaan’s book is uninhibitedly political
and activist. It forms the exact counterpart
of the essay Thierry Baudet wrote for
American Affairs under the title “Houellebecq’s
Unfinished Critique of Liberal Modernity”.’
– De Groene Amsterdammer
Nominated for the Bookspot non-fiction
prize 2019.
8 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Kemal Rijken
Our People First
How Right-Wing Nationalism Conquered Europe
New insights into nationalistic populism based
on extensive interviews with its leading players
Though right-wing nationalist parties old guard by the younger generation and Kemal Rijken (b. 1980) is a
have largely been shunned by the politi- the transformations each bring. Building on journalist and author. He writes
about politics, the government and
cal establishment as racist, xenophobic extensive interviews with many key players
minorities in Dutch society for NRC,
or even Nazi since their emergence in the like Jean-Marie Le Pen, Alexander De Groene Amsterdammer and
1980s, they now form almost thirty percent Gauland, Umberto Bossi, Nigel Farage and Het Parool. His published works
of the European Parliament. Across Filip Dewinter as well as former prime include Roma, a book about the
Europe, these once small, marginalized ministers and politicians, he sketches a Sinti and Roma in the Netherlands,
The Westermoskee, a history of
movements have booked political upsets human portrait of a political field in which
religious freedom in the
in their home countries and have been strong personalities and big egos reign. As Netherlands, as well as the critically
expanding their political influence readers given access to the movement’s acclaimed biography Van der Laan,
through international collaboration. inner mechanisms, we witness the about Amsterdam’s highly popular
deliberate shift towards a more stable late mayor.
Rather than excluding or blocking these professionalization.
Publishing details
parties, which will only feed their growing We meet figures like Thierry Baudet
Eigen Volk (2019)
popularity, young thinker Kemal Rijken and Matteo Salvini, witness the internal 466 pp.
maintains that today we must heed and quarrels and moral dilemmas party heads Ambo Anthos
confront their arguments in an exchange face in their associations, intentional or
not, with right-wing extremists. By charting Rights
of ideas and visions that will make our
Marianne Schönbach Agency
democracy stronger. Our People First the progression of the European political
Marianne Schönbach
therefore presents a comprehensive history scene over the years, Rijken also highlights m.schonbach@schonbach.nl
of right-wing nationalism around Europe right-wing nationalism’s persistent role in
and injects nuance into a political stance mainstream politics’ shift to the right. Photo: Jelmer de Haas
that has been categorically rejected by most. As Rijken writes, ‘In the last forty years,
Eschewing judgment, Rijken traces their movement has become part of the
right-wing nationalism’s evolution in nine democratic system. Those who wish to
western European countries, starting with fight them will have to do so based on
the first immigration waves in the 70s and content in the political arenas of Europe.
80s, and continuing through the fall of the This too is part of democracy.’
Berlin Wall, the September 11 attacks and Given the immediate questions facing
the financial crisis, up to today’s refugee Europe regarding immigration and integra-
crisis and Brexit. Their rise is far from tion, Our People First is a ground-breaking
meteoric, and Rijken details their victories step in tackling these challenges. This is
and their setbacks, the replacement of the a must-read for anyone interested in the
political landscape of today and tomorrow.
‘Its timing is near enough perfect […]
Our People First is a clever reconstruc
tion of the growth on the right flank
of the political spectrum over the past
forty years.’
– HP de Tijd
‘A coherent vision is produced through
this chronological and detailed
approach in which [the author] moves
from country to country.’
– NRC
9 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Lex Boon
The Pineapple
A History Made Up Of Startling Stories
And Unexpected Encounters
One day Lex Boon’s girlfriend returns pineapple fan Oviedo who ignited the Lex Boon (b 1983) is a prominent
home with a present for him — a pineap- European passion for the ‘prince of all Dutch journalist, well-known for his
supreme reporting. He studied
ple plant from IKEA. Then she dumps fruits’. In the 17th century, the growing
sociology at the University of
him. In an attempt to get over his heart- interest in botany in the two most power- Amsterdam and journalism at Leiden
break, the journalist decides to investi- ful imperial nations at the time — England University. He has worked for Het
gate the small green fruit he was given. and Holland — would lead to the hothouses Parool and NRC Handelsblad. His
He sets up a Google News alert for which could keep tropical plant varieties reports from the pineapple trail were
broadcast on Dutch national radio.
pineapple stories and what follows is a such as the pineapple alive.
five year round-the-world journey of At a pineapple congress in Costa Rica, Publishing details
discovery, a new relationship, fatherhood Boon tracks down the creator of an extra Ananas. Een geschiedenis in
and a surprise hit book. sweet variety for Del Monte, and explores opzienbarende verhalen en
that company’s once monopoly on breed- onverwachte ontmoetingen (2019)
224 pp.
Newly single and in need of a holiday, ing pineapple varieties. Boon even goes on
Meulenhoff
Boon reads a news story about pineapple to export a superior variety himself from 6,500 copies sold
farmers in Thailand dumping their harvest Ghana, the Smooth Cayenne, and discov-
to blockade the motorway. He jumps on ers the pitfalls in the market. Along the Rights
a plane. Once there, the investigative way the reader is fed interesting titbits 2 Seas Agency
Marleen Seegers
journalist finds himself caught up in the such as how Sponge Bob’s pineapple was
marleen.seegers@2seasagency.com
opaque world of fruit trade and overpro- misdrawn mathematically (the pattern of
duction. He discovers where and how growth should be a Fibonacci series) and
pineapples are grown, harvested and why pineapple and meat pair well on your
packaged for export in factories, who the plate (its unique enzyme bromelain breaks
middle men are and how the fruit end up down protein).
in our supermarkets and grocery stores Boon’s travels turn up fascinating
priced at just a couple of euros. insights as well as a comprehensive view of
While staying in the pineapple folly of pineapple production and trade. This fun,
a 17th century mansion in Scotland, Boon wide-ranging and well-reviewed book also
delves into the history of pineapple and helps us as consumers to know what we
the various fashions it has launched. should buy: Fairtrade, whole, tinned or
Columbus might have brought the first ready-cut? ‘However small a subject,
specimens to Europe in the fifteenth there’s still an infinite amount to tell about
century, but it was Spanish historian and it’ is Boon’s adage.
‘And oh my gosh what a delightful
book The Pineapple is. I had no idea
that non-fiction about pineapples
could deliver up such a page-turner.
This book is a delicious pineapple
road trip […] Open this book and the
sun starts to shine.’
– De Volkskrant
‘An intriguing book. His style,
humorous and playful but also
pleasantly down-to-earth, is
reminiscent of the work of Bill
Bryson. […] This book is a breath
of fresh air.’
– NRC Handelsblad
10 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Josephine Rombouts
Cliffrock Castle
Working At A Castle in Scotland
Downton Abbey in the twenty-first century —
behind the scenes in a traditional Scottish castle
When Josephine Rombouts moves with observational skills, she describes a Josephine Rombouts (b.1971)
her family from Holland to the west coast micro-culture whose continuing existence studied Art History and Dutch and
has lived in the Scottish Highlands
of Scotland she jumps at the opportunity is almost unthinkable in today’s world.
for the past six years with her family.
of a job as housekeeper at the local castle. Tables lain with a yardstick, the strict rules She is now the manager of the castle
Unhampered by any knowledge of for wearing tweed, where to offer a in which she previously worked as
housekeeping or of the British elite, she plumber a cup of tea, uncomplaining housekeeper. She also leads the
miraculously manages to stay afloat in employees whose gardens are suddenly choir and gives drama lessons at
the village school.
her new surroundings where she finds cut in half by a deer fence — she is often
herself confronted with English land- amazed and has to learn fast. Publishing details
owners, French cooks, Scottish indepen- As a pragmatic, direct Dutch woman Cliffrock Castle. Werken op een
dence, local roofers, a ghost, and a Rombouts tries to get to the bottom of kasteel in Schotland (2019)
serious amount of etiquette. many unwritten social codes and nuances 352 pp.
Querido
she never could have dreamed of in the
16,000 copies sold
Looking for a change in lifestyle — and egalitarian Netherlands. After a while she English sample available
a greater change is barely conceiv- starts to understand what is at play: the
able — Rombouts leaves a busy Dutch city privileges and restrictions of class, com- Rights
with her husband and two young sons plex social dynamics, boarding school Singel Uitgeverijen
Jolijn Spooren
hoping to settle in the beautiful Scottish syndrome. Soon she has learned about
j.spooren@singeluitgeverijen.nl
Highlands. Neither she nor her partner ‘making oneself scarce’ and the best way to
has a job lined up but before long the discreetly refer to a dog poo in the parlour. Photo: Katja Poelwijk
author has been hired by the chatelaine of ‘I found it a brilliant piece of theatre,
Cliffrock Castle for a trial period. The where you are mindful of all considerations.
estate manager warns her that however As long as you’re in the play waving your
sympathetic the Lady may seem, ‘You duster it’s fun; if you don’t play along the gilt
must keep your proper distance.’ wears off ', the author said in an interview.
Drawing all her instructions from an Scotland’s desolate and rugged nature
antiquated book she discovers in a turret forms an attractive and sometimes treach-
bedroom — The Butler’s Guide to Clothes erous backdrop to experiences which,
Care, Managing the Table, Running the beyond a career in castle upkeep, lead the
Home & Other Graces — Rombouts soon author to form closer connections with the
realizes that working in a castle will people around her, including the chatelaine
require more than just some simple who steps into the breach when one of
cleaning. With humour and incisive Rombout’s children becomes seriously ill.
‘A small miracle has occurred in publishingland.
Fans of Jane Austen’s world had already cottoned on
to it, but gradually the miracle is seeping through to the
broader echelons: Cliffrock Castle. […] Rombouts has a
golden pen. Marvelling, detailed and tongue-in-cheek
she draws us into an elite we didn’t know existed; one
of Upstairs Downstairs, chandeliers and balls.’
– Trouw
‘Everything that made Downtown Abbey so irresistible,
Rombouts experienced in her castle: hunting parties,
an out-of-proportion Christmas tree, ironed socks,
the gong to summon everyone to the dining room, the
chandeliers, the room full of unpolished silverware.’
– VPRO Gids11 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Brenda Stoter Boscolo
The Forgotten People
The Yezidi’s Account of the Last Genocide
Intimate portraits of a little-known people under persecution
In the summer of 2014, ISIS invaded the officials, religious leaders, doctors, stu- Brenda Stoter Boscolo (b.1984)
region of Sinjar in northern Iraq. Their dents, professors, activists and soldiers. is an acclaimed Dutch journalist who
writes about the Middle East. She
aim was to systematically exterminate She investigates the social repercussions
has master’s degrees in sociology
the Yezidis, an ethnic minority with its of genocide: How has it changed the and in media and journalism from
own ancient religion and culture. The traditions which forbid members to Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
men were murdered while the women convert religion, as so many women and Her second thesis was about the
and girls were sold into slavery; sons were children were forced to do to survive? And Iraq war and the media. Her articles
have been published by Al Jazeera,
forced to become child soldiers and the what about the Yezidi children fathered by
Middle East Eye, The New Arab and
youngest children were sold to ISIS ISIS soldiers? How has Yezidi human- Al Monitor as well as featured in
families. Journalist Brenda Stoter rights activist Nadia Murad inspired other Dutch newspapers and magazines,
Boscolo travelled to Iraq to write about women to come forward with their stories? including Trouw, Algemeen
the Yezidi genocide. Along the way she makes connections Dagblad, De Tijd, NRC Next,
Het Parool and De Groene
and builds friendships, learning about the
Amsterdammer.
While international reporting has focused Yezidi culture. Caught between the Iraqi
mainly on the sexual slavery imposed on Arab and Kurdish communities, with Publishing details
Yezidi women after the ISIS invasion, little whom they have historically uneasy Het vergeten volk. Het verhaal van
has been said until now about the larger relationships, the Ezidis see themselves as de Jezidi’s over de laatste genocide
(October 2019)
and deeper attempt to destroy the Yezidis their own ethnicity. They have their own
288 pp.
as an ethnic group. In refugee camps in religion, whose holy books have been lost De Arbeiderspers
Northern Iraq, Boscolo interviews dozens in the 73 genocides they have survived. English sample available
of women, men and children whose lives They are poorly understood and often
were irrevocably damaged by ISIS, but in portrayed as devil worshippers, making Rights
Singel Uitgeverijen
the process she discovers a troubled them targets for fundamentalist Sunni
Jolijn Spooren
history fraught with persecution in a groups like Al-Quaida before ISIS. Many j.spooren@singeluitgeverijen.nl
hostile land. She is overwhelmed by their of the Yezidis feel they have no one to turn
willingness to tell their harrowing stories, to but each other.
which they hope to share with the world. Writing with an open, personal style,
We meet Yezidis like Ishmael, who lost Boscolo alights the essential strength that
35 family members, and Majdal, who was lies in community, individual human
trained as a child soldier. There’s Nadima, resilience and the ability to find meaning
who bore an ISIS soldier’s son, and Turko, in life after trauma. The Forgotten People
who became Muslim to save her children. reveals the heartbreaking human face of
Boscolo also speaks with government a community in peril.
‘Brenda Stoter Boscolo is not afraid of the
devil nor anyone. She doesn’t rest until she
has gained access to worlds that are closed to
many journalists. She manages to beautifully
combine compassion, a keen eye for detail
and lucid analysis in her stories.’
– Xandra Schutte, journalist,
Editor of De Groene Amsterdammer
‘I know few people who wear their power
and vulnerability as purely as Brenda does.
She’d go through fire for other people.
Her work is just as inspiring, gripping,
moving and overwhelming as she is herself.’
– Fidan Ekiz, journalist and presenter12 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Huib Modderkolk
There’s A War Going On But No One Can See It
The shadow side of the internet: global intelligence,
digital espionage and our privacy
Six years ago Huib Modderkolk began incident and the previous one lead him to Huib Modderkolk (b.1982) is an
investigating the digital world. He the Ukraine, the apparent target of a investigative journalist for the Dutch
national newspaper De Volkskrant.
gradually formed a picture of how Russian attack.
He is a frequent guest on the popular
systems built for free communication are This is just one example of how digital talkshow De Wereld Draait Door
exploited for espionage and manipula- disruption in the Netherlands is inextrica- where he explains the complexities
tion, and unearthed secret operations bly connected with the rest of the world. of the digital world in simple terms.
by the Dutch, American and Russian Security systems installed by companies Modderkolk won the Dutch-Belgian
investigative award De Loep in 2018.
intelligence services. His most important and governments are globally sourced.
His reports have been taken up by
conclusion? We are vulnerable: computer Israel, for example, is one of the cheapest NY Times, Washington Post,
systems control access to our most basic producers. But internet security systems Reuters, CNN, The Guardian, BBC,
human needs. can also discreetly collect data. There are Der Spiegel, France24 and many
other weaknesses. Data storage companies other media sources. He has
collaborated with The Wall Street
Summer 2017: computer screens go blank can be based anywhere and fall outside of
Journal, The Guardian, NY Times
in 150 countries. The British NHS is so national jurisdiction — criminals can store and The Intercept.
affected that hospitals can only take in illegally-gathered data undetected. And
patients for the Casualty department. how infallible are the certificates obtained Publishing details
Ambulances are grounded. MRI scanners to ensure that internet users end up on the Het is oorlog maar niemand
die het ziet (2019)
and blood refrigeration systems stop sites they believe they are accessing?
272 pp.
functioning. Computer screens turn on Based on the cases he has investigated, Podium
spontaneously and the words “Oops your Modderkolk takes the reader on a tour of 20,000 copies sold
important files are encrypted” appear. the corridors and back doors of the English sample available
Employees who desperately pull the plugs globalised digital world. He reconstructs
Rights
on their computers are too late. Restarting for example the British-American espio-
Podium
is pointless, the computers are locked. And nage operation on Belgacom and reveals Joost Nijsen
now the attackers ask each victim to pay how the power relationships between jn@uitgeverijpodium.nl
them 300 dollars. This is hijack software. countries enable intelligence services to
Those who transfer the money get nothing share and withhold data from each other. Photo: Ruud Pos
in return. The book looks at key players such as
A month later, an unknown virus strike Edward Snowden, DigiNotar: the Dutch-
on 27th June 2017 doesn’t just shut down based certification company, Russian
Rotterdam harbour but also systems in hackers Cozy Bear and Evgeniy Bogachev
France, India, Great Britain, Poland and ‘the Pablo Escobar of the digital era’, and
Germany, before spreading to 60 further provides insights into military hackers,
countries. Modderkolk’s research into this spies, saboteurs, malware and trolls.
‘This is even better than John le Carré,
because it’s true.’
– Matthijs van Nieuwkerk, TV
presenter
‘In the old days, anyone wanting to
understand the world read the bible.
Anyone wanting to understand the
world today should read this book.’
– Arjan Lubach, writer and TV
presenter13 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
New & Noteworthy
Published in the Netherlands
Holland’s Philosophy Laureate New book by the bestselling author
on Extinction of Utopia for Realists
René ten Bos Rutger Bregman
Extinction Humankind
A revisionist history
Publisher: Boon
Rights: info@bua.nl Publisher: De Correspondent
Rights: Janklow & Nesbit
Rcarter@janklow.co.uk
Rights sold:
UK – Bloomsbury
France – Du Seuil
Japan – Bungeishunju
Norway – Spartacus
US – Little, Brown
Italy – Feltrinelli
‘I mistrust any idea or thought that doesn’t dare face up to the Humans are beasts, the kings said. Sinners, the priests said.
gaping hole within’ is ten Bos’s starting point for a philosophical Egoists, the accountants said. For centuries, western culture
reassessment of extinction and climate change. In a style reminis- has been permeated by a belief in the depravity of humankind.
cent of French philosopher Michel Serres, ten Bos argues that But what if all this time we’ve been wrong?
humankind is scarcely touched by the extinction of many species In this book, Rutger Bregman incorporates the latest insights from
because they disappear without being noticed. If we do wish psychology, economics, biology and archaeology. He takes us on
to be affected we need to recognize the essential value of their a journey through history and gives new answers to old questions.
existence, but our knowledge constantly falls too short for this. How do we explain our biggest crimes? Are we deeply inclined to
We would rather feed the illusion that we are in control. Will evil or good within? Humankind not only rewrites history, but also
humankind’s ‘speculative’ future extinction allow us to take the sheds new light on our future.
step towards caring enough to effect change?
Why the female heart requires different The Middle East through the lens
medical treatment from the male of its animal inhabitants
Angela Maas Olaf Koens
The Female Heart Horses Fly Business Class
A cardiologist on women’s hearts Humans and animals
in the Middle East
Publisher: De Arbeiderspers
Rights: Singel Publishers: Nijgh & Van Ditmar
j.spooren@singeluitgeverijen.nl Rights: Singel
j.spooren@singeluitgeverijen.nl
Heart disease has been the number one global cause of death Can a giraffe commit suicide? How do you fit 69 horses in an
among women for many years now but still every day women are airplane? How do you evacuate a zoo in a warzone?
treated according to measures developed by and for men, leading Koens, a TV news reporter, takes the reader on a dizzying trip
to confusion, unclear diagnoses and often incorrect treatment. from the dusty streets of Gaza to Qatar’s blinding desert, from the
Within medicine, cardiology affords the most striking examples calm Turkish countryside to the battlefields of Syria and Iraq to
of sex differences mattering. The way in which the heart and examine how animals are party to wars and sometimes escape in
circulatory system ages in women is essentially different from miraculous ways. The fate of these animals lays bare the misery,
men’s, heart attacks differ, the menopause has an effect and hopes and fears of people in the Middle East where storks are seen
there are other gender-specific ills. This book is based on years as spies, lions as trophies and dolphins as weapons.
of research by a pioneer in female heart care.14 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Recent Translations This is a selection of recently published
translations from the Dutch. For more information
please go to our online database of translations
en.vertalingendatabase.nl.
Mathijs Deen Luuk van Middelaar Nico Tinbergen
Über alte Wege. Eine Reise Alarums & Excursions. Improvising Eskimoland.
durch die Geschichte Europas politics on the European Stage Ein Bericht aus der Arktis
Over oude wegen De nieuwe politiek van Europa Eskimoland
Published in German by DuMont (2019). Published in English by Agenda Publishing Published in German by C.H. Beck (2019).
Translated by Andreas Ecke. Also in Korean (2019). Translated by Liz Waters. Also in Translated by Gerd Busse and Ulrich Faure.
(Sobitkil), Italian (Iperborea). French (Gallimard), Portuguese (Realizações
Editora Espaço Cultural Livrario).
Hannes Wallrafen Frank Westerman Annejet van der Zijl
Der blinde Fotograf Čistá biela rasa The Boy Between Worlds.
De blinde fotograaf Dier, bovendier A Biography
Published in German by Oktaven (2019). Published in Slovak by Absynt (2019). Sonny boy
Translated by Rolf Erdorf. Translated by Annamária Gálová Vrbová. Published in English by Amazon Crossing
Also in Chinese (Lijang Publishing House), (2019). Translated by Kristen Gehrman.
Croatian (Durieux), Czech (Host), English Also in Bulgarian (Ciela), Czech (Barrister &
(Harvill Secker), German (C.H. Beck), Principal), German (Kindler), Italian (Marsilio),
Hungarian (Helikon), Italian (Iperborea), Spanish (Arango), Swedish (Lind & Co.),
Polish (Czarne), Slovenian (Studentska Turkish (Alef).
zalozba), Spanish (Siruela).15 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Forthcoming in English
New Dutch Writing Campaign 2019-2020
Eva Meijer Onno Blom Eddy de Wind
Animal Languages: The Secret Young Rembrandt Last Stop Auschwitz:
Conversations of the Natural World De jonge Rembrandt My Story of Survival
Dierentalen Published by Pushkin Press, 2019. Eindstation Auschwitz
Published by John Murray, 2019. Translated by Beverley Jackson Published by Transworld, 2020.
Translated by Laura Watkinson Translated by David Colmer
Sanne Blauw Ivo van Vulpen Stefan Buijsman
The Number Bias: How Numbers How to Find a Higgs Boson Pluses and minuses:
Lead and Mislead Us And Other Big Mysteries in the The Use of Maths When You
Het best verkochte boek ooit World of the Very Small Never Calculate Anything
Published by Sceptre, 2020 De melodie van de natuur Plussen en minnen
Translated by Suzanne Jansen Published by Yale University Press, 2020. Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2020.
Translated by David McKay Translated by Andy Brown
For further details: www.newdutchwriting.co.ukQuality
16 Non-Fiction From Holland Quality Non-Fiction From Holland
Roanne van Voorst Kemal Rijken
We Used to Eat Animals Our People First
Corien van Zweden Lex Boon
Breasts The Pineapple
Jelmer Mommers Josephine Rombouts
How Are We Going Cliffrock Castle
to Explain This?
Brenda Stoter Boscolo
Geert Mak The Forgotten People
Great Expectations
Huib Modderkolk
Abram de Swaan There’s A War Going On
Against Women But No One Can See It
Quality Non-Fiction from Holland
is published by the Dutch
Foundation for Literature. The
bulletin is distributed to foreign
publishers and editors.
If you would like to receive Quality
Non-Fiction from Holland, please
contact post@letterenfonds.nl.
Editors
Mireille Berman, Dick Broer,
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Kaashoek, David McKay
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‘La Nascita di Venere’
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letterenfonds t +31 (0)20 520 73 00
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