12 Dutch Books to Be Full of the Joys of Spring (2023)

Why not read a book by a Dutch or Flemish author? Here you will find a selection of books that recently have been translated or will be translated soon into English, most of them with the support of the Dutch Foundation for Literature or Flanders Literature. You’ll find more translated literature in this database.

FICTION

On a Woman’s Madness

Author: Astrid Roemer
Translator: Lucy Scott
Publisher: Two Lines Press
Original title: Over de gekte van een vrouw (In de Knipscheer, 1982/Prometheus, 2016)

Read why translator David McKay thinks you should read this book.
Read our interview with Astrid Roemer, in which she talks about her texts, her language and her homeland, Suriname.

The Ascent

Author: Stefan Hertmans
Translator: David McKay
Publisher: Text (ANZ), Harvill Secker (UK), Pantheon Books (USA/Canada)
Original title: De opgang (De Bezige Bij, 2020)

Read our review and an English sample translation of this novel.
Read our review of Stefan Hertmans’ work.

Russian Gothic

Out: 9 May 2023

Author: Aleksandr Skorobogatov
Translator: Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse
Publisher: Old Street Publishing
Original title: Sergeant Bertrand (Cossee, 2016)

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

The Exile

Author & Illustrator: Erik Kriek
Translator: Sean M. Robinson & Erik Kriek
Publisher: Living the Line
Original title: De balling (Scratch!, 2019)

Centralia

Author & Illustrator: Miel Vandepitte
Publisher: Living the Line
Original title: Centralia (Scratch!, 2021)

Read our review

CHILDREN'S & YOUTH LITERATURE

Elephant Island

Author & Illustrator: Leo Timmers
Translator: James Brown
Publisher: Gecko Press
Original title: Het eiland van Olifant (Querido, 2020)

The Gardens of Dorr

Author: Paul Biegel
Illustrator: Eva-Johanna Rubin
Translator: Gillian Hume & Paul Biegel
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Original title: De Tuinen van Dorr (Holland, 1969)

The Moon is a Ball

Author: Ed Franck
Illustrator: Thé Tjong-Khing
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Gecko Press
Original title: Panda & Eekhoorn (Davidsfonds, 2020)

Later, When I’m Big

Out: 9 May 2023

Author: Bette Westera
Illustrator: Mattias de Leeuw
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: Eerdmans
Original title: Later als ik groot ben (Lannoo, 2021)

Read why American readers have a love-hate relationship with Dutch children’s books.

NONFICTION

Alphons Diepenbrock

Author: Leo Samama
Translator: Brent Annable
Publisher: Toccata Press
Original title: Alphons Diepenbrock (Amsterdam University Press, 2013)

Read our portrait of Alphons Diepenbrock.

Beethoven in the Bunker

Author: Fred Brouwers
Translator: Eileen J. Stevens
Publisher: Other Press
Original title: Beethoven in de bunker (EPO, 2019)

A New History of Western Art

Author: Koenraad Jonckheere
Translator: Ted Alkins
Publisher: Hannibal & Yale University Press
Original title: Another History of Art (Hannibal, 2020)

Read our review of this art book.