Thomas Heerma van Voss
Thomas Heerma van Voss (b. 1990) is the author of the novel Stern and the acclaimed short-story collections Condities (Conditions, longlisted for the Boekenbon and Libris Literature Prize) and Passagiers/Achterblijvers (Passengers/Stragglers, nominated for the BNG Literature Prize).
In 2014 he published the short-story collection The Third Person, which was nominated for the BNG Literature Prize. Conditions (2020), his third novel, was longlisted for the Libris Literature Prize and the Boekenbon Literature Prize. Passengers/ Stragglers (2022) is composed of six sinister stories about people with uncertain futures.
More Thomas Heerma van Voss
Passengers/ Stragglers
Thomas Heerma van Voss’ new collection contains six stories about people who are spectators in their own lives. Often they are searching for meaning in an unpredictable world. There is a son who, with a combination of empathy and distance, describes the minutiae of his mother’s life – she is a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage who beseeches him, ‘I did show you enough love and affection when you were little, didn’t I?’ The astute gaze in these stories is reminiscent of the work of A.M. Homes or Sally Rooney. An unforgettable collection, which, despite dealing with heavy subject matter, offers room for hope and comfort.
The Archive
One of the books that featured in several Dutch critics’ end-of-year lists was The Archive. Praised for his precise style and melancholy wit, Thomas Heerma van Voss describes the life of the aspiring editor of a literary magazine who has to say goodbye to his reclusive father.