Flanders Literature helps publishers and festival organisers find that one particular title or author that is the perfect fit for their list or audience. So take a good look around, we present a selection of the finest literature from Flanders. If you like what you see, please get in touch with us for further information.
Nobody has taught me as much about the euro crisis as Paul De Grauwe.
Paul Krugman
Do the financial crisis and the growing inequality create a new balance of power between the free market and the government? Are we witnessing a turnover of capitalism and does the government take over again?
Provocative and elegant, visionary and stylish. This European dares to tell the hard truths.
Chief Geopolitical Analyst for Stratfor
We, as Europeans, feel as if the future passes right by us. The crisis rages over our continent like a storm and dismantles all our certainties. Are the fundaments of Europe crumbling? And do we actually understand what is going on?
De Vlieger has explored and expanded her horizons with verve.
Jürgen Peeters
Klaar finds an old notebook in her grandfather’s handwriting and starts reading about his adventures in Canada, in 1929. She discovers that her grandfather was on the run for something and why he came back. 'Don’t Go to Canada' is an ingeniously-constructed coming-of-age novel.
A proper young adult book has no age limits and can be enjoyed by everybody. 'One is Enough' is just such a book.
De Standaard
Juliette is growing up in a musical family, but life is no picnic; after the death of her father, her mother proves demanding to live with. The latent tragedy develops inexorably. Els Beerten uses deep psychological insight to bring the affairs of Juliette and her family to life.
Nothing but superlatives. The master’s hand can once again be recognised.
Cutting Edge
While the other animals take life as it comes, the goose and his brother ask themselves questions that are sometimes bigger than themselves. Bart Moeyaert finds the perfect balance between gentle humour and taking their concerns seriously. This lends the stories a timeless and universal character, poetically worded by Moeyaert in his distinctive economical style.
Rebekka has not written a joke book but an ethical argument that will blow your socks off.
Tumult.fm
‘That’s simply how it works.’ It’s a statement we all get to hear from time to time, or perhaps use ourselves. But it doesn’t satisfy Rebekka de Wit in her ‘Presentation of an Uncensored Joke Book’. An optimistic activist, De Wit expresses the need for a real conversation and an investigation of morality, in order to find a new narrative, or counter-narrative.
Boon intertwines big stories with very personal events.
Etcetera
What can pictures tell us about the lives and motives of those depicted in them, or indeed of the person pressing the shutter? Can we even reconstruct a person’s life? 'Comes On / Goes Off’ is a quest to discover the outer limits of stories and storytelling.
A play about the impact of war on individuals and their environment. In this polyphonic monologue, the author allows us to hear the voices of a range of people affected by recent and less recent conflicts.
Flanders, 1914. David, a young Belgian schoolteacher, stands before the firing squad, sentenced to death for desertion. Days earlier, he was teaching his fellow soldiers in the trenches to read and write. But when he befriended a sensitive young pupil, Marcus Verschoppen, disaster followed.
There’s a lot to laugh at in Schoofs’ world that has gone off the rails.
Knack
You won’t soon find anything as acutely absurd as the work of Bart Schoofs. Never mind though: everything is possible and there’s always a solution to be found. Tomorrow is another day.
In this book of verse, Edward van de Vendel captures fifty everyday sounds for the smallest of children, in an extremely original way. With no buttons to push, no mimicry or clichés, this beautiful book is full of original rhymes.
A chilling display of all the things people do to each other. Bogaert is not only one of the most modern but also one of the most interesting poets writing at the moment, one who gets under your skin rather than remaining at a distance, on paper.
A deceptively light story about absent parents and a lonely child
Knack
In this highly acclaimed debut, Shamisa Debroey displays a graphic maturity that is unexpected for such a young author. This poetic and nuanced portrait of a difficult parent–child relationship is a strong and exceptionally self-assured first step.
The most daring comic-book debut in Flanders in recent years
Knack
Wide Vercnocke’s poetic ode to laziness allows him to go to town with his narrative and graphic skills, making ‘My Muse Lies on the Settee’ both narcissistic and ironic, lazy and virtuoso, literary and visual. This multifaceted book is a most impressive debut.
The book grabs hold of you and does not let you go.
PlaneteBD.com
Maarten Vande Wiele adapts five short stories by Guy de Maupassant. It is no easy task to transform De Maupassant’s dark mood into an extravaganza of colours, and yet Vande Wiele succeeds with aplomb.
A captivating encounter with the remarkable Brontës
Lancashire Evening Post
In 1842 Charlotte Brontë goes to Brussels with her younger sister Emily to learn and teach, in the hope of starting her own private school. What exactly happened in Charlotte’s time in Brussels has never become completely clear... ‘Charlotte Brontë’s Secret Love’ is a Victorian flavoured book, with an omniscient narrator, which exudes a nineteenth-century, Brontë-esque atmosphere.
The polder village of Doel, situated in the shadow of a nuclear reactor near the port of Antwerp, has been a pawn in the power games of successive politicians since the 1960s. Jeroen Janssen became fascinated by those who stayed behind and by their stories. ‘Doel’ is an impressive account of a personal journey of discovery in a village whose fate has long been uncertain.
Vandenbroucke’s distinctive work blends the highbrow with the low, drawing equally from Gordon Matta-Clark’s site-specific artwork and the Three Stooges’ slapstick timing. With a knowing wink at the reader, Vandenbroucke continuously uncovers something to laugh about in the stuffiness and pretentiousness of the art world.
Not only stunningly beautiful, it is also very interesting. ****
De Morgen
A boy hears a girl calling him one morning. Is it his sister, the sister in the faded photograph on the wall? This is the beginning of an unforgettable adventure. Jef Aerts and Marit Törnqvisthave created a beautiful book about death. It is emotional without being sentimental, stepping smoothly back and forth between magic and the literalness of childhood.
It starts almost imperceptibly, with something innocuous. Tommy is shy, he blushes easily. A little girl notices it, points to him and winks at Paul, the biggest bully of all. Jan de Kinder offers us a powerful story about strong children on the playground who don’t like bullying.
Rhythm and text propel you forward, leaving you breathless.
De Leeswelp
The hare, the horse, the boar and the deer run as fast and as far as they can. Their shadows run with them. They run over the plain, through the sand, through the grass.
This picture book allows even the very young to come into contact with poetic language at a high level, without it becoming inaccessible.
An unusual tribute to the consolations of imagination
The Wall Street Journal
In this moving story about the healing powers of the imagination, Anton Van Hertbruggen and Edward van de Vendel broach major themes such as sadness and loneliness. Dreamy, realistic and fascinating enough to want to look at again and again.
‘Woesten’ recounts a suffocating story full of village gossip about a family in which fate strikes with a heavy hand, leaving no-one unscathed. It portrays a realistic, almost naturalistic image of a typical rural village in the early 20th century and offers a nuanced view of the psychology of intriguing characters.
A bitterly angry and amusing novel. De Coster places her protagonists on the operating table and dissects them cold-bloodedly.
Spiegel Online
The reader lands in the midst of an upper-class world teeming with dramas large and small, where love, truth and ambition are regularly at odds. ‘We and Me’ is a brilliant, astute family novel, full of intriguing characters sketched with great psychological insight and compassion. The book takes the measure of the modern European, and demonstrates the strength of family ties.
When Yannick Agnel, an Olympic champion, wants to train him, Alex can hardly believe his luck. He gives it his all, and his parents, who don’t see his talent, increasingly become an obstacle to his ambitions. Do Van Ranst sketches another dysfunctional family, and does so with panache.
While it entertains us with the strangeness of anthropomorphism, it is profoundly engaged with the strangeness of being human
The Times Literary Supplement
‘The Man I Became’ is an account written by an ape. Along with masses of fellow apes, he is plucked from a state of nature and, after a tough sea journey to the New World, subjected to a rigorous programme of civilization.
Theunissen has discovered his inner Homer for this modern Odyssey.
De Standaard
‘The Detours’ is a lavishly painted saga of a post-war family in which too much has remained unsaid. Theunissen presents unforgettable characters in search of a good life, of themselves and of a way to feel connected.
Beautiful adaptation of Stravinsky’s 'The Soldier’s Tale'
De Morgen
‘Someone’s Sweetheart’ is a fairytale in verse form, about a Russian soldier who is given two weeks annual leave from the battlefield in World War I. In the penetrating, moving text, Moeyaert continually plays with foreboding omens. The sinister atmosphere is enhanced by Korneel Detailleur’s impressive grey illustrations.
Two Belgian exiles, both called Tony Hanssen, are seeking themselves in a world that has become too big and too chaotic for everyone. One Tony is a loser with no illusions, the other Tony a high-spirited nerd. Both are hoping for salvation. ‘Fortunate Slaves’ is a pitch-black tragicomedy with unforgettable characters and dialogues, an ingenious plot and a virtuoso style.
Robijn fits his touching miniatures into a larger, meaningful story without his characters becoming puppets.
De Standaard
'The City and Time' consists of nine stories in chronological order, all of which take place in Brussels. Robijn’s characters all have difficulty getting by in life, but succeed by throwing themselves blindly into their regular activities. Until something – often love – turns up and turns everything upside down.
A small village behind the front, during World War I. While soldiers struggle to fight, life behind the front goes on. At the inn, where soldiers come to catch their breath, lives a blind girl. One day, she finds someone sitting on her bench: a black soldier, with the ‘scent of roasted nuts’.
Much is currently being written about the Chinese exploitation of Africa, but who is writing about the price China pays? The answer: Lieve Joris, and brilliantly, too.
NRC Handelsblad
What happens when people meet who do not share a colonial past? With that question in mind, Lieve Joris leaves Africa for China. In keeping with the modus operandi she has refined over past decades, she immerses herself in the world of Africans and Chinese who venture into each other’s territory in the slipstream of the big trade contracts.
An effervescent portrait of the artistically and politically foaming city Brussels was between 1850 and 1914.
Cobra.be
Refugees and adventurers, thinkers and doers, finders and inventors washed ashore in this elegant city where life was good - ask Baudelaire, Marx, Rodin, Ensor, Multatuli and all those others, read it in the writings of Teirlinck or Van de Woestijne.
Decreus’ critical discussion of dominant market thinking in our depoliticized society is clever and provocative.
Politiek en Samenleving
Decreus sets out to subject the current political establishment to fierce criticism. He unmasks representative democracy as in truth an aristocracy and points to the incompatibility of the democratic ideal with the premises of neoliberal policies and market thinking.
Van Reybrouck manages to convince the reader that drawing lots would be an effective way to breathe new life into our enfeebled democracy.
Henriette Roland-Holst Prize jury
Van Reybrouck argues with crystal clarity that drawing lots would be an effective way to revitalize our enfeebled democracy and ensure that citizens participate once more in the social structures that shape them and their lives.
Will often have you in fits of laughter, only to grab you the next moment unexpectedly by the throat
De Standaard
A retired librarian wants to escape the dreary monotony his bossy wife has imposed on him.There is only one, extraordinary way in which he can regain the self-esteem that his marriage has dented.He plans to gradually feign dementia until he finds himself in a rest home, freed from all social and familial pressure.
An extremely strong book, a wartime childhood that can be taken as a reference
Edward van de Vendel
Flanders, 1914. The war is approaching audibly. Young Nelle volunteers as a nurse in a hospital, seeing this war as a chance to become more than just a baker’s daughter, a mother and wife. Her boyfriend Simon doesn’t want to go to war, but he is pushed by his father, who is fascinated by heroism and the art of warfare, and he ends up in the trenches with his best friend Kamiel.
Such layering, such rich atmosphere and magnificent dialogue, this is unprecedented
Jaap Friso
Matti sets out on the ice road to town on the coldest night of the year to bring his father’s favourite fish to safety. Out on the ice at night, he meets Drika, who is almost blind, and who, like Matti, has a goal to achieve. 'Fish Don’t Melt'is an atmospheric and exciting story about a night full of threat and disaster, but above all a book about love.
Wild, breathless stories in this great collection of small texts
Süddeutsche Zeitung
This beautifully illustrated treasure chest holds a collection of Bart Moeyaert short stories and poems for children. No matter how different the stories and poems are, they all show Moeyaert’s craftsmanship. Such variety, such a wealth of imagery and style – it all combines to make this book an exquisite anthology.
A book for sensitive readers, young or otherwise, who enjoy taking time for nuances
Cobra
Paris, just before the French Revolution. Camille and Louis’ father is a silk merchant, which entails regular journeys to China. Until one day he does not return. Kathleen Vereecken sketches a beautiful and subtle story about loss and how to cope with it against the background of a city where tensions are rising.
Five people, linked together, tell their story. They talk about unexpected happiness that makes things complicated, about secrets that seem too big to handle, about the complex art of being young, about obstacles that seem like mountains, about keeping on trying, to the point where no one can go any further.
De Martelaere is not someone who thinks slowly or laboriously. No – her trains of thought thunder at full speed, are compelling and, within a limited space, summon up and deal with a variety of issues
Trouw
Love, insecurity and an endless longing for another are the most prominent themes in the poetry brought together in this anthology that spans 20 years.The poetry in ‘Nothing that Says’ portrays something that cannot be made tangible in any other way.
Her rich vocabulary and thoughtful wording leave a lasting impression.
Trouw
‘Birdie’ is a gripping story about growing up and loneliness. Written from the perspective of adults as well as teenagers, this crossover novel will appeal to both demographics. Van den Broeck creates incredibly believable characters with elaborate characterisation and fluid streams of thought.
This sparkling, beautifully designed book is a real revelation.
De Standaard
This humorous and text-free story is extremely fast-paced. De Decker’s humour explores the boundaries of the (im)possible, but remains disarmingly innocent at the same time. Otto’s world is one of weird trains of thought and unexpected twists and turns. Its warm heart immediately draws the reader in.
A fine debut – it looks like the well of promising young Flemish illustrators has not run dry yet.
De Standaard
A man is sitting in his cabin in the forest, all by himself. When he stares out of the window, all he sees are trees. It is a beautiful forest, but the man isn’t happy: he demolishes his little house and with the timber he assembles a pair of tall stilts. With giant steps he can now go and explore the wonders of the world.
A coherent and bittersweet meditation on family foibles
Comicsalternative.com
Karel, Valère and Roger are three brothers who each need to come to terms with their own demons. Reading about their troubled lives, we get a sense of just how cruel and thankless as well as enchanting and hilarious the world can be: extremes we have no choice but to accept.
Olyslaegers performs a high-wire act between monumental and over the top, between cool and affected. And he makes it to the other side, gloriously so.
De Standaard
In ‘Winnings’ Jeroen Olyslaegers asks pertinent questions about social engagement, art, spirituality, love and sex and does so with flair and devilish suspense.
This is not your average picture book, but a highly original and gripping story.
Pluizuit
Willy’s father is keen to teach his son something new every day. But every time he looks over the boy’s shoulder, something goes wrong. Then one day his father decides to send Willy out into the great, wide world to discover his talents.
‘Somersault Day’ is imaginative from beginning to end.
De Standaard
Zsofi jumps off a star and falls down to earth, little suitcase in hand. This is her Somersault Day. A woman climbs out of Zsofi’s suitcase, picks her up and holds her tight. Somersault Day’ is a gripping story about life, love, death and saying goodbye.
