Only two Flemish authors make Dutch-language book of the year list

Only two Flemish authors make Dutch-language book of the year list
© Sterling Books

Only two Flemings have a chance to win the Boekenbon Literatuurprijs, the award for the best Dutch-language literary book of the year.

It concerns Carmien Michels with ‘Fathers who mourn’ and the Flemish-Turkish Tülin Erkan with ‘Honeyeater’. Both fiction and non-fiction books are eligible for the award. The author of the award-winning book receives €50,000 and will be announced on November 10.

The jury, chaired by Belgian politician Guy Verhofstadt, selected fifteen titles from a record number of 565 titles submitted by publishers. Thirteen of these are Dutch. With the Boekenbon Literatuurprijs, the jury of professional readers (reviewers and booksellers) from Flanders and the Netherlands awards the best Dutch-language literary book.

At the presentation of the Boekenbon Literatuurprijs, a Boekenbon Debate will now also be issued. “Every year a relevant speaker is approached to give an idiosyncratic vision on the importance of literature in our society and current events in the literature field. Jury chairman Guy Verhofstadt has been prepared to take on the first edition of the Boekenbon Betoog."

The Boekenbon Literatuurprijs succeeds the AKO Literatuurprijs, which was awarded for the first time in 1987. Last year the prize went to the Dutch author Wessel te Gussinklo for his book ‘Op weg naar De Hartz’.

The final shortlist will be announced on September 29 during a meeting in the Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk in The Hague.


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