22 Dutch Books to Daydream in the Sun (Spring-Summer 2024)

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

FICTION

Afterlight

Author: Jaap Robben
Translator: David Doherty
Publisher: World Editions
Original title: Schermleven (De Geus, 2022)

Read our review HERE.

My Heavenly Favourite

Author: Lucas Rijneveld
Translator: Michele Hutchison
Publisher: Graywolf Press/Faber & Faber
Original title: Mijn lieve gunsteling (Atlas Contact, 2020)

Read our review HERE.

Read an excerpt from the novel HERE.

Off-White

Author: Astrid Roemer
Translator: Lucy Scott & David McKay
Publisher: Two Lines Press
Original title: Gebroken wit (Prometheus, 2019)

Read our interview with Astrid Roemer HERE.

The Middle Daughter

Author: Chika Unigwe
Publisher: Canongate (UK), Dzanc Books (US)
Original title: De middelste dochter (Horizon, 2023)

Julian

Author: Fleur Pierets
Translator: Elisabeth Khan
Publisher: 3TimesRebel
Original title: Julian (Das Mag, 2019)

A Peasant Farmer’s Psalm

Author: Felix Timmermans
Translator: Paul Vincent
Publisher: Snuggly Books
Original title: Boerenpsalm (Davidsfonds, 1935)

Read HERE what Felix Timmermans has to do with the city of Lier.

The Seers

Author: Sulaiman Addonia
Publisher: Coffee House (US), Assembly Press (Canada), Prototype (UK)
Original title: De Zieners (Uitgeverij Jurgen Maas, 2024)

Read HERE how Sulaiman Addonia reimagines Brussels.

The Safekeep

Author: Yael van der Wouden
Publisher: Penguin (UK), Simon & Schuster (US)
Original title: De bewaring (Das Mag, 2024)

CHILDREN'S & YOUTH LITERATURE

Bird is Dead

Author: Tiny Fisscher
Illustrator: Herma Starreveld
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: Greystone Books
Original title: Vogel is dood (Gottmer, 2022)

Esma Farouk, Lost in the Souk

Author: Lisa Boersen & Hasna Elbaamrani
Illustrator: Annelies Vandenbosch
Translator: Polly Lawson
Publisher: Floris Books
Original title: Duizend-en-één paarse dejellaba’s (Gottmer, 2020)

Bear’s Lost Glasses

Author & Illustrator: Leo Timmers
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Gecko Press
Original title: De bril van Beer (Querido, 2023)

Cake for Everyone

Author & Illustrator: Thé Tjong-Khing
Publisher: Gecko Press
Original title: Taart voor iedereen (Lannoo, 2023)

No Escape

Author: Maren Stoffels
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Original title: Escape Room 2.0 (Leopold, 2022)

Inside In

Author: Jean Paul Schutten
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Publisher: Greystone Books
Original title: Binnenstebinnen (Gottmer, 2017)

NONFICTION

Revolusi

Author: David Van Reybrouck
Translator: David Colmer & David McKay
Publisher: The Bodley Head (UK), W.W. Norton & Company (US)
Original title: Revolusi (De Bezige Bij, 2020)

Read all about the colonisation of Indonesia HERE.

The Voice of the People?

Author: Wim Blockmans
Translator: Michiel Horn
Publisher: Routledge
Original title: Medezeggenschap (Prometheus, 2020)

Read our review HERE.

Limitarianism

Author: Ingrid Robeyns
Publisher: Astra House (US), Allen Lane (UK)
Original title: Limitarisme (De Bezige Bij, 2023)

Paris Souls

Author: Dirk Velghe
Translator: Helen Simpson
Publisher: Hannibal
Original title: De ziel van Parijs (Hannibal, 2021)

Six in a Bed

Author: Roanne van Voorst
Translator: Liz Waters
Publisher: Polity
Original title: Met z’n zessen in bed (Podium, 2022)

Read our series on sexuality in the Low Countries HERE.

The Power of Hormones

Author: Max Nieuwdorp
Translator: Alice Tetley-Paul
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Original title: Wij zijn onze hormonen (De Bezige Bij, 2022)

Colonial Congo

Various authors
Translator: Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen
Publisher: Brepols
Original title: Koloniaal Congo (Polis, 2020)

Citizens and Sodomites

Author: Jonas Roelens
Publisher: Brill
Original title: Citizens and Sodomites (Ghent University, 2018)

Read our article on the persecution of homosexuals in the Middle Ages HERE.