literature

Dutch Caribbean Writer Astrid Roemer Passed Away

The Surinamese author Astrid Roemer has died on 8 January in her hometown Paramaribo. Roemer leaves behind a literary legacy of lasting significance for Suriname, the Caribbean, and Dutch-language literature. Her work continues to be read, studied, and discussed, both nationally and internationally.

Astrid H. Roemer (Paramaribo, 1947) rose to prominence in the Netherlands with On a Woman’s Madness, an experimental novel exploring the complexity of womanhood. In the 1990s she wrote three decolonial novels that she herself referred to as her “triplets”: Gewaagd leven (1996), Lijken op liefde (1997), and Was getekend (1999), later published together under the title Onmogelijk moederland.

Roemer was celebrated in both Suriname and the Netherlands for her courage and independent spirit, evident throughout her extensive body of poetry, prose, and plays.​

Over the course of her career, Roemer received numerous prestigious awards, including the P.C. Hooft Prize in 2016 and the Dutch Literature Prize in 2021, becoming the first Surinamese author to receive these highest literary honors.​

Following the winning of the Dutch Literature Prize, fellow writer and compatriot Tessa Leuwsha interviewed her in Paramaribo about her characters, language, colonialism, and the future of Suriname.

Her work also gained international recognition: the English translation of On a Woman’s Madness, translated by Lucy Scott, was longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize.

Astrid Roemer was 78.