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A translator of Dutch into English gives literary tips by answering two questions: which translated book by a Flemish or Dutch author should everyone read? And, which book absolutely deserves an English translation?

Sara Mertens created a graphic story in response to an ivory statue of what is thought to be Diana, made by Jean Goujon.

We join Dagmar Bosma as she questions a cabinet made by Charles-Guillaume Diehl in c. 1867 – c. 1880.

Eighteen young writers have brought artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Jutta Callebaut was inspired by Jan Veth’s ‘Portrait of Cornelia, Clara and Johanna Veth’.

Eighteen young writers have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. We join Maya Mertens as she looks at a part of a cannon captured at the Battle of Shimonoseki.

Eighteen young writers have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. We join Maaike Rijntjes as they look at a plate of the Dutch province of Overijssel.

Laure-Anne Vermaercke invites us to take a very close look at the Diorama of the Zeezigt Coffee and Cotton Plantation, made by Gerrit Schouten in c. 1815 – c. 1821.

Sanne Aletta van Otten voices a drip-filter coffee pot from 1816, manufactured by the Diemont company.

Kenneth Berth created an audio story in response to Louis Moritz’s painting The Music Lesson from 1808.

Pim Lammers offers us an insight into Gerrit Schouten’s Model of the Memorial of J.F. de Friderici from 1812.

Anne Marijn Voorhorst looks at a mustard pot made by Jean Baptiste Claude Odiot around 1819.

Eighteen young writers have brought artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Dagmar Dirkx looks at the painting 'Monk Meditating near a Ruin by Moonlight' by Frederik Marinus Kruseman.

Maxine Palit de Jongh presents us with an Erard Frères pianoforte from 1808.

Together with Emma Zuiderveen we look at the blue in Claude Monet’s 1884 painting La Corniche near Monaco.

Jorik Amit Galama wrote a text in response to the painting Farm on the bank of a stream in Gelderland by Wouter Johannes van Troostwijk.

Kiriko Mechanicus explores Girl in a White Kimono, painted by George Hendrik Breitner in 1894.

Sumai Yahya gives us a look at an Etruscan vase made by Manufacture Impériale de Sèvres in 1858.

Eighteen young writers have brought artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Eva Salman wrote a short story inspired by a coffee pot.

Eighteen young writers have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Johannes Lievens draws our attention to the inkstand once owned by Baron Chassé.

Eighteen young writers from Flanders and the Netherlands have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Thom Wijenberg shows us the 'Diorama of a Du, Dance Celebration on the Plantation', made by Gerrit Schouten.

Eighteen young writers have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Together with Michael Koevoet we look at the painting ‘In the Month of July’ by Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël.

Femke Zwiep has written a poem in response to a balance standard with a counterweight from the workshop of Wenzel Jamnitzer.

Maite Vanthournout wrote a short story inspired by a cradle made by an anonymous craftsman.

Benjamin De Roover was inspired by the chest of books in which Hugo de Groot escaped imprisonment in the early seventeenth century.

Eighteen young writers from Flanders and the Netherlands have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Sarah de Koning draws our attention to the white paint on 'Portrait of Alida Christina Assink' by Jan Adam Krus...

Eighteen young writers from Flanders and the Netherlands have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Lemuël de Graav found inspiration in Wouter Johannes van Troostwijk’s painting 'The Raampoortje in Amsterdam'.

Eighteen young writers from Flanders and the Netherlands have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Sixtine Bérard wrote a poem to accompany a flask.

Eighteen young writers have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Gus Møystad drew a graphic story inspired by Jozef Israëls’ painting 'The Sand Bargeman'.

Phaedra Derhore drew a short comic in response to the painting Still Life with Game and a Greek Stele: Allegory of Autumn by Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os from 1818.

Eighteen young writers have brought artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Kenneth Berth invites us around a lavishly decorated table.

Eighteen young writers from Flanders and the Netherlands have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Marian van der Pluijm created an audio story in response to Marie Constantine Bashkirtseff’s painting 'The Arti...

Eighteen young writers from Flanders and the Netherlands have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Mahat Arab wrote a poem in response to a figure called 'Two Fighting Knights'.

Eighteen young writers have brought artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Charlotte Remarque took inspiration from a model of a Javanese marketplace.

Eighteen young writers have brought artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Emerald Liu wrote a poem about a toilet mirror, commissioned by King William I as a wedding gift for his daughter.

Eighteen young writers have brought artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. We join Hasret Emine in looking at a dressing table.

We join Marieke Ornelis as she looks at Portrait of a Young Woman, with ‘Puck’ the Dog, painted by Marie-Thérèse Schwartz

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Elise Tumba Kiambi wrote a poem in response to Andreas Schelfhout’s painting Farmyard.

The woollen caps worn by Dutch whalers in the period 1740 – 1760 inspired Flora Kenza Nacer to write a poetic dialogue.

Cesar Majorana gives a voice to a painting in the shadow of 'The Night Watch'.

Ellis Meeusen took inspiration from the 1863 law, drawn up by King Willem III, that set out the Netherlands’ official abolition of slavery in Suriname.

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Robin Goudsmit wrote a manual to accompany a painting.

A still life with cheese, that’s all Sanne Pieters needs to dissect gender roles. ‘I watch you a lot: you and that favourite cow of yours.'

Obe Alkema gives the floor to a festoon of fruits and flowers: ‘We’re fruit, flora, authentic. We want to be seen the way Yotam Ottolenghi sees us.’

Malika Soudani gives a voice to 'Portrait of a woman' by Frans Hals. ‘I wonder if they called it that because it’s a good title or because they’ve forgotten my name.’

Jasmijn Post brings the painting 'The Love Letter' by Johannes Vermeer to life. We listen to a woman whose feelings are restricted by social conventions.

Iduna Paalman wrote a poem about the rise and fall of Maria de’ Medici to accompany a militia piece by Joachim von Sandrart.

Edna Azulay has composed an ode to the intoxication of 'The Drunken Couple' by Jan Steen.

Bart Decroos wrote a short story inspired by a 1708 drawing by Dirk Valkenburg, entitled ‘View of a Mill and Cook-house on a Plantation in Surinam’.

Arno Boey gives a voice to the painting 'The Milkmaid' by Johannes Vermeer.

Amarylis De Gryse got inspired by the painting 'The Company of Captain Albert Bas and Lieutenant Lucas Conijn'. She explores the inner life of a militiaman.

Dieter De Schutter drew a graphic story inspired by the masked figure on a ferry in a 370-year-old river landscape. ‘I can never step out of line.’

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Marte Hoogenboom wrote a dialogue in response to a painting and a sculpture.

David Weel invites us to look at 'Dying Adonis' by the painter Hendrick Goltzius.

In his short story, inspired by Pieter Lastman’s painting 'Orestes and Pylades Disputing at the Altar', Pieter Van de Walle introduces us to Orestes.

Jordy Spyt chose a passglass – a glass used for drinking games – and wrote an antidote to toxic masculinity.

Babeth Fonchie wrote a poem inspired by old wooden stocks and matching iron shackles.

Chris Lomans gives a voice to machetes from the early 19th century that were intended for sugar cane plantations.

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. We join Daan de Jager as he looks at a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh from 1887.

Anne Bosveld wrote a prose poem inspired by a panorama of Cape Town.

Eighteen young authors have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Sophia Blyden wrote her text in response to a sculpture of Lorenzo Bartolini.

Betül Sefika was inspired for her visual poem by a rice stalk, which is directly descended from rice seeds that were smuggled from Africa to Suriname by an enslaved woman.

Shimanto Reza wrote a letter inspired by a map of the Bay of Bengal from around 1695.

Elsbet De Pauw wrote a poem in response to an old painting of a doll house.

Jordi Lammers wrote a letter from the perspective of a mouth-bow.

Annemieke Dannenberg gives a voice to a brush used in eighteenth-century incantations.

Esha Guy Hadjadj gives a voice to a military painting by Cornelis Troost from 1742.

Johannes Decat gives a voice to the tally marks in an old cash book for a plantation in Brazil.

Marie Borremans wrote a poem inspired by a letter from Pieter Mortamer, commander in Luanda, addressed to Johan Maurits, the then governor-general of Dutch Brazil.

Emma Wiersma wrote a poem referencing the oldest existing collection of plants from Suriname.

Veneboer wrote a dialogue in response to a portrait of Toussaint Louverture, leader of the Haitian independence movement during the French Revolution.

Jens Meijen wrote a poem inspired by a contract from 1706 between a plantation owner and a painter.

Anne-Goaitske Breteler wrote a short story inspired by a letter written in response to the abolition of slavery on the French side of Sint Maarten.

Pelumi Adejumo gives a voice to a collar from 1689 bearing the coat of arms of William of Orange.

Our selection of Dutch-language books that have recently been translated into English.

Here's our selection of Dutch-language books that recently have been translated into English.

Is the protagonist of Yves Petry’s eighth novel just a raving madman? Or does he have a point, with his philosophical and societal statements? Mainly mad, we are led to conclude.

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