Share article

literature

42 Dutch Books You Need To Read This Summer (2022)

2 May 2022 5 min. reading time

Why not read a book by a Dutch or Flemish author? Here you will find a selection of books that recently have been translated 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

Grand Hotel Europa

Author: Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
Translator: Michele Hutchison
Publisher: Fourth Estate UK/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Original title: Grand Hotel Europa (De Arbeiderspers, 2018)

read our review

Echo

Author: Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Translator: Moshe Gilula
Publisher: Nightfire Books/Hodder and Stoughton
Original title: Echo (Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2019)

The Homecoming

Author: Anna Enquist
Translator: Eileen J. Stevens
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Original title: De thuiskomst (De Arbeiderspers, 2005)

A Guardian Angel Recalls

Author: Willem Frederik Hermans
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Archipelago Books/Pushkin Press
Original title: Herinneringen van een engelbewaarder (De Bezig Bij, 1971)


read our profile on Willem Frederik Hermans

The Scorpion’s Head

Author: Hilde Vandermeeren
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Original title: Scorpio (Uitgeverij Q, 2016)

Love, If That's What It Is

Author: Marijke Schermer
Translator: Hester Velmans
Publisher: WorldEditions
Original title: Liefde, als dat het is (Van Oorschot, 2019)

The Opposite of a Person

Author: Lieke Marsman
Translator: Sophie Collins
Publisher: Daunt Books
Original title: Het tegenovergestelde van een mens (Atlas Contact, 2017)

A Sea of Flames

Author: Walter Lucius
Translator: Laura Vroomen, Lorraine T. Miller
Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph
Original title: De stad en het vuur (Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2019)

The Long Song of Tchaikovsky Street

Author: Pieter Waterdrinker
Translator: Paul Evans
Publisher: London Scribe
Original title: Tsjaikovskistraat 40 (Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 2017)

Bold Ventures

Author: Charlotte Van den Broeck
Translator: David McKay
Publisher: Chatto & Windus/Other Press
Original title: Waagstukken (De Arbeiderspers, 2019)


read our review

POETRY

Habitus

Author: Radna Fabias
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Deep Vellum
Original title: Habitus (De Arbeiderspers, 2018)

read our review

The Essential Gorter 2. Selected Poems

Author: Herman Gorter
Translator: Lloyd Haft
Publisher: Arimei Books

read more about the life and work of Herman Gorter

Leaving. A Poem from the Time of the Virus

Author: Cees Nooteboom
Illustrator: Max Neumann
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Seagull Books
Original title: Afscheid (Koppernik, 2020)

read more about the life and work of Cees Nooteboom

Words Are the Worst. Selected Poems

Author: Erik Lindner
Translator: Francis R. Jones
Publisher: Signal Editions

The Collected Poems, Volume 3

Author: Lucebert
Translator: Diane Butterman
Publisher: Green Integer

read our profile on Lucebert

Island Mountain Glacier

Author: Anne Vegter
Translator: Astrid Alben
Publisher: Prototype Publishing
Original title: Eiland berg gletsjer (Querido, 2011)

Rinkeldekinkel. An Anthology of Dutch Poetry

Edited by Rob Schouten
Diverse translators
Publisher: Milkweed Editions

The Dutch Riveter. Writing from The Netherlands

Diverse authors
Diverse translators
Publisher: The Riveter

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

Biography of a Fly

Author: Jaap Robben
Illustrator: Paul Faasen
Translator: David Doherty
Publisher: WorldEditions
Original title: Biografie van een vlieg (Uitgeverij Loopvis, 2021)


read our profile on Jaap Robben

Days of Sand

Author & illustrator: Aimée de Jongh
Translator: Christopher Bradley
Publisher: SelfMadeHero
Original title: Dagen van zand (Scratch!, 2021)


read our profile on Aimée de Jongh

Canciones

Author: Federico García Lorca
Illustrator: Tobias Tak
Translator: Tobias Tak
Publisher: NBM Publishing
Original title: Canciones (Scratch!, 2017)

CHILDREN'S & YOUTH LITERATURE

The Three Princes of Serendip

Author: Rodaan Al Galidi
Illustrator: Geertje Aalders
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Original title: Arabische sprookjes (Gottmer, 2017)

The King of the Copper Mountains

Author: Paul Biegel
Translator: Gillian Hume, Paul Biegel
Illustrator: Sally J. Collins
Publisher: Pushkin Children’s Books
Original title: Het sleutelkruid (Holland, 1964)

You Are the Loveliest

Author: Hans & Monique Hagen
Illustrator: Marit Törnqvist
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Levine Querido
Original title: Jij bent de liefste (Querido, 2000)

The Riddle of the Sea

Author: Jonne Kramer
Illustrator: Karl J. Mountford
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: Bonnier Books
Original title: Het raadsel van de zee (Billly Bones, 2019)

Where Is Everyone?

Author & illustrator: Tom Schamp
Translator: Michele Hutchison
Publisher: Prestel
Original title: Waar is iedereen? (Lannoo, 2020)

Inside In

Author: Jan Paul Schutten
Illustrator: Arie van ’t Riet (photo)
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: Greystone Books
Original title: Binnenstebuiten (Gottmer, 2017)

No One Is Angry Today

Author: Toon Tellegen
Illustrator: Marc Boutavant
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Gecko Press


read more about the work of Toon Tellegen

I’ll Keep You Close

Author: Jeska Verstegen
Translator: Bill Nagelkerke
Publisher: Levine Querido
Original title: Ik zal je bewaren (Querido, 2020)

Robbie's Little Red Tractor

Author & illustrator: Harmen van Straaten
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: Red Robin Books
Original title: Ik heb lekker een hele grote trekker (Leopold, 2020)

NONFICTION

533 Days

Author: Cees Nooteboom
Illustrator: Simone Sassen (photo)
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: MacLehose Press
Original title: 533 (De Bezige Bij, 2016)

Looking for the Enemy

Author: Bette Dam
Translator: Clare Wilkinson
Publisher: Harper Collins
Original title: Op zoek naar de vijand (De Bezige Bij, 2019)

Djinn

Author: Tofik Dibi
Translator: Nicolaas P. Barr
Publisher: Suny Press
Original title: Djinn (Prometheus, 2015)

The House of Orange in Revolution and War

Author: Jeroen Koch, Dik van der Meulen & Jeroen van Zanten
Translator: Andy Brown
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Original title: Oranje in revolutie & oorlog (Boom, 2018)

We Slaves of Suriname

Author: Anton de Kom
Translator: David McKay
Publisher: Polity
Original title: Wij slaven van Suriname (Contact, 1934)

The Last Survivor

Author: Frank Krake
Translator: Haico Kaashoek
Publisher: Seven Dials
Original title: De laatste getuige (Achtbaan, 2020)

Pandemonium

Author: Luuk van Middelaar
Translator: Liz Waters
Publisher: Agenda Publishing
Original title: Het Europees Pandemonium (Historische Uitgeverij, 2020)

There’s a War Going On but No One Can See It

Author: Huib Modderkolk
Translator: Elizabeth Manton
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Original title: Het is oorlog maar niemand die het ziet (Podium, 2019)

read our review

The Cigar Factory of Isay Rottenberg

Author: Hella & Sandra Rottenberg
Translator: Jonathan Reeder
Publisher: Wilfried Laurier University Press
Original title: De sigarenfabriek van Isay Rottenberg (Atlas Contact, 2017)

How to Know Everything

Author: Elke Wiss
Translator: David Doherty
Publisher: Arrow Books
Original title: Socrates op sneakers (Ambo | Anthos, 2020)

The Burgundians

Author: Bart Van Loo
Translator: Nancy Forest-Flier
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Original title: De Bourgondiërs (De Bezige Bij, 2019)


read our review

Blues for the White Man

Author: Fred de Vries
Publisher: Random House
Original title: Wiegelied voor de witte man (Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 2019)

Tom Christiaens

editor the low countries and deputy editor-in-chief de lage landen

Comments

The comments section is closed.

You might also like

		WP_Hook Object
(
    [callbacks] => Array
        (
            [10] => Array
                (
                    [0000000000002f9f0000000000000000ywgc_custom_cart_product_image] => Array
                        (
                            [function] => Array
                                (
                                    [0] => YITH_YWGC_Cart_Checkout_Premium Object
                                        (
                                        )

                                    [1] => ywgc_custom_cart_product_image
                                )

                            [accepted_args] => 2
                        )

                    [spq_custom_data_cart_thumbnail] => Array
                        (
                            [function] => spq_custom_data_cart_thumbnail
                            [accepted_args] => 4
                        )

                )

        )

    [priorities:protected] => Array
        (
            [0] => 10
        )

    [iterations:WP_Hook:private] => Array
        (
        )

    [current_priority:WP_Hook:private] => Array
        (
        )

    [nesting_level:WP_Hook:private] => 0
    [doing_action:WP_Hook:private] => 
)