Catalogues
New Dutch Fiction
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.
The Paradise of Sleep
The poet Joost Oomen writes cheerful books. He even manages to spin the tale of a jaded euthanasia doctor who has seen too much into an entertaining, infectious yarn.
Days Like Strange Symptoms
In this unique novel, we see Sisyphus like we’ve never seen him – or rather, her – before. Baerwaldt’s Sisyphus is not the man forced to roll a boulder up a hill for eternity that keeps rolling back, but a modern mother aimlessly wandering around an inhospitable universe, pushing an empty wheelchair.
Oroppa
It’s rare for a debut to cause such a stir: rave reviews, a spot on the bestseller list and the highest number of mentions in ‘best of 2024’ round-ups in the Netherlands. Oroppa is an ode to Europe in the form of a kaleidoscope of stories from people living there or passing through.
Dutch Non-Fiction
The Healthcare Gap
Medicine has traditionally been based on the male body, with women as bycatch, but women are not just smaller men. In scientific research, female patients remain alarmingly underrepresented, and today there is still no equality between men and women as patients, despite growing proof of the differences. And female medical professionals themselves still need further emancipation in their roles.
On Another Planet They Can Save Me
In 2017, poet and novelist Lieke Marsman was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer. After enduring various rounds of chemo, she was told her illness was terminal. Still, she is continuing with treatment – radiotherapy, immunotherapy, operations. Living for years with death has changed Lieke’s worldview, and On Another Planet They Can Save Me is a poetic and philosophical exploration of the need to embrace the unknown.
Another Russia
Is Russia so unique that we can’t understand its people? Putin would like us to think so, and it’s why he has to defend against the ‘decadent West’. Meanwhile, our own stubborn myths about the enigmatic ‘Russian Soul’ only confirm his narrative. If we ever hope to see peace in Europe, renowned Russia-expert Sjeng Scheijen argues, we had better look at what we share. After all, one can’t win a war of ideas with bombs alone.
Lucy’s Daughters
While some see gender inequality as a natural phenomenon, the history of economics reveals a very different story. Jan Luiten van Zanden’s research focuses on the complex interplay between the social status of women and economic development. In this panoramic work, he examines the historical roots of gender inequality throughout Eurasia, and its socio-economic consequences today.
Children's books
A Very Ordinary Dog
Binkie is a very ordinary dog. Not big, not small, not white, not black, but somewhere in between. Sometimes he’s naughty, but mostly he’s good.
Lucas & Bunny
Lucas the fox is the fastest animal in the forest. But one day, when he’s racing around, he crashesinto Bunny the rabbit and bumps his head. Theinjured Bunny is petrified, but something strangehas happened to Lucas. ‘Where am I?’ the fox wails. ‘Who am I? And, um… what am I?’
It’s Red and Round
With apparent simplicity, Jan Jutte inserts a red ball into new and layered background images. In powerful and playful letters, we read what the ball has become: ball of wool, balloon, wheel, belly, mouth, berry, drum. The associations and transformations prove to be endless.
The Waiter and the Penguin
From the moment the two of them meet, it’s clear that this is anything but love at first sight. When the penguin greets the waiter, the waiter does not reply. He merely points at the signs around the entrance indicating that pets are not allowed. The penguin is not impressed. ‘Do I look like a pet?’ he asks, pushing the waiter aside and waddling through the doorway.