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.
This absurd picture book is a successful introduction to the richly nuanced oeuvre of René Magritte, which at the same time invites one to explore further. Verplancke shows himself a born surrealist.
We seldom see so much humour, beauty and linguistic creativity.
Cutting Edge
In this colourful encyclopaedia, children discover the world and learn new words in a playful way. The result is a hefty introductory and comprehensive work, full of dynamic characters and objects, offering a generous sampling of Tom Schamp’s craftsmanship. His illustrations represent a blend of Richard Scarry’s ‘Busy, Busy Town’ and Martin Handford’s ‘Where’s Waldo’.
The atmospheric, bitter-sweet illustrations make the sadness palpable and yet palatable.
De Morgen
'Stella. Star of the Sea' is a tale about loneliness, being different and searching for your place in the world. It is also a story about the boundless nature of parental love and about letting your children go so that they can be themselves. When writing this story, Dendooven was inspired by disturbing photos of refugees and by the horrors experienced by children in war zones.
A summer Friday on the coast. Jonas is in an apartment with a view of the sea. He sits facing the door, waiting, a pistol in his lap. 'Blindly' is a humane, poignant tale of beauty and decay, deeds and dreams, the chosen and the damned.
Huet’s writing is quite simply superb: elegant, colourful, lively, with great feeling for detail, witty and never condescending.
Kees 't Hart
Of all the art of the Flemish School, the work of Pieter Bruegel (1525?-1569) seems most typical of the Low Countries. His familiar and much loved paintings turned him into a folkloric icon, even if that does not entirely square with his life story. Leen Huet has written the first proper biography of the sixteenth-century master.
Verster is a master at evoking atmosphere and longing.
JaapLeest
Five-year-old Matteo has the best day of his life when he gets a soccer ball and a pig for his birthday. For Vasco the pig, it’s also the best day of his life – it’s not even his birthday and he still gets Matteo. Edward van de Vendel beautifully describes the loving friendship between Vasco and Matteo, while Alain Verster adds another dimension to the story through his illustrations.
Skorobogatov carries you off and bewitches you with his lovely language ****
NRC Handelsblad
‘Portrait of an Unknown Girl’ is not only a powerful story of the beauty and tragedy of first love, but also an uncompromising portrait of an inhumane epoch and an oppressive regime that breaks people, punishes innocence and integrity and ruins lives.
Every page reveals an eccentric and original cartooning mind at work.
The Comics Journal
Olivier Schrauwen’s grandfather Arsène leaves for the Belgian colony of Congo in 1947, where he and his cousin Roger have planned a hugely ambitious project: a utopia of modernism, right in the middle of the jungle. Sometimes funny, slightly surreal and often beautiful.
Blond quiff, jutting chin, self-confident grin and completely ignorant of any taboos – that’s him, the one and only Cowboy Henk! With their most popular hero, the illustrator Herr Seele and his writer Kamagurka have created a mixture of Mr Clean, Adonis and a hillbilly, entirely in the tradition of the Belgian Surrealists.
A novel full of suspense which will leave you dazed
De Morgen
In ‘Hunt’, as in his previous novels, Elvis Peeters succeeds in raising a fascinating moral issue through what appears to be just a story: what would happen if animals could think too? ‘Hunt’ depicts the biotope of man as an animal among animals. Will human hegemony remain in place, or do we need to share our dominant position with others?
A rich, accessible treasure trove of facts and figures
Financial Times
‘Timeline’ is a trip through time, past dinosaurs, Vikings, Aztecs and spaceships. It is an illustrated journey through our world’s culture and events and travels from the Big Bang to the iPod. Peter Goes constructs a continuous line, on which different historical periods make their appearance one by one.
Supersaturated hues and maximum automotive whimsy make this one to pore over.
Kirkus Review
Gus is a happy do-it-yourselfer. No job is too big or too difficult for him. Luckily, he has plenty of useful stuff lying around and he always comes up with creative solutions. Timmers has thoroughly indulged himself designing the most ingenious vehicles, replete with pedals and handles.
Aline Sax shows how the damage inflicted by the wall carries on beyond its physical destruction.
MappaLibri
Three generations of Berliners, one wall. In ‘Crossing the Line’, Aline Sax has written an epic tale of life with the Berlin Wall. This tense sketch of a family’s struggle for survival presents daily life in Berlin in a fascinating and convincing light. The threat of the Stasi gradually permeates, and the feeling that no one can be trusted continues to reverberate throughout.
A dark fairy tale filled with troubling implications and haunting illustrations
Publishers Weekly
‘Panther’ is an unsettling graphic novel about a little girl and her imaginary feline companion. Iconoclastic in his cartooning and page layouts, subtle in his plotting, and deft in his capturing of the human experience, Brecht Evens has crafted a tangled, dark masterwork.
El Azzouzi describes a group of young people who call themselves ‘Drarrie’ and populate the fringes of society. What begins as an entertaining picaresque novel slowly turns into a chilling story of radicalisation when one of the boys decides to become a martyr…
Valentina, the emperor’s spoilt daughter, collects birds. When she encounters a talking bird in her dreams, a use for the empty ‘golden cage’ is quickly found. Cneut’s prints exceed all the limits of the illustrative powers of expression: this is art with a capital A.
Monaco, May 1968. Just before the start of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the entire grandstand is witness to a terrible incident. Within seconds, two people are caught up in an accident that will change their lives forever. ‘Monte Carlo’ reads like a film and leaves readers with a desperate longing.
Right before his death in the 1980s, Stefan Hertmans’ grandfather gave his grandson a few notebooks. For years, Hertmans was too afraid to open them – until he finally did and laid bare some unexpected secrets.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Van Gerrewey proves once again that the intangible nature of love is still fuel for literature
De Morgen
A man wakes up in a house belonging to friends who have gone on holiday. Accompanied by their cat, he recalls the previous summer, when a woman was still with him. He decides to write to her to bring her up to date with recent developments.
Is this a letter of complaint from a jilted lover, an exhibitionist confession to the world, or a scrupulous self-examination?
David is diagnosed with cancer of the larynx, a terminal form of cancer that means he will soon be unable to speak. Judith Vanistendael zooms in on David and the three women who surround him: his wife and his two daughters. A touching and subtle book that compassionately depicts the fruitless struggle to find the meaning of life.
‘Roger is Reading a Book’ is both a tribute to the quiet life (the bliss of peacefully reading a book) and to going out and having fun together when city life beckons. The same hustle and bustle in town returns in 'Roger is Going Fishing' where Roger cycles out of town to go fishing. His neighbour Emily on the back of his bike, with the fishing rod in her hand, catches plenty of things before they’ve even left the town.
The most versatile and most exciting voice of his generation.
Tom Lanoye
A chronicle about resistance and decay, with events that take place in Brussels, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Los Angeles. This novel comes as close as possible to the core of this era, which even the ultra-rich can no longer control.
Three perfectly controlled puzzle pieces that will never entirely fit together
De Groene Amsterdammer
‘Post Mortem’ is an intense and ingenious novel about a writer’s inspiration, a father’s love for his daughter and a man’s fear of losing his life after his death.
‘Applesauce’ is a refreshing complement to all the picture books in which dads are always heroes. Here you see a father as he really is: he often realises his role of superdad, but occasionally he can be found lazing on the sofa and sometimes he even changes to scary and grumpy, with thunder in his voice and lightening in his hands.
A gripping and authentic tale of love, friendship, grief and loss
NBD Biblion
Eppo is taking a trip. Hitchhiking to France he is picked up by Tabby, who has her own reasons for leaving home. Tabby talks nineteen to the dozen; Eppo is an introvert. Through his eyes we join them on their journey, which has more to do with what lies behind them than with where they are going.
A fantasmagoria without balloons in which a man sets out on a surreal quest in search of his animality
Le Soir
In this wordless tale, the young human boy Mowgli lives alone in the jungle. He soon feels lonely and goes in search of a soulmate. Mowgli’s quest is full of slapstick humour with bloody violence and elephant droppings, but also contains reflections on philosophical questions like individuality and complementarity.
Like every year, everyone gathers on the top of the hill. Ant is very happy that it is finally her turn to chair the meeting, in which they will discuss a difficult question. Elephant asks how you know that you love someone.
‘The Making Of’ is a work of art, an absolute gem from start to finish. Evens captures emotions, both large and small, along with funny little human traits and tics. His story feels very familiar, with all of its absurdity. There’s not one single page that will leave you indifferent.
Otto and his dad spot some weird and wonderful sights as they drive through the village into the dazzling heart of the city. In dynamic prints full of detailed pictures, Tom Schamp brings all kinds of animals to life in the most bizarre and remarkable vehicles. This wonderful picture book guarantees to provide hours of viewing pleasure.
It’s written with this precision, tenderness and sense of desolation
Julian Barnes
After Mortier's mother falls victim to Alzheimer's disease at the age of 57, he becomes the chronicler of her slow deterioration. ‘StammeredSongbook’ is not solely about mourning, but also about language, and above all about love. Mortier's book is an essential, universal lament, bitter and razor-sharp yet pure and sublime in its beauty.
The book is both entertaining and intellectually challenging.
Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies
Verhaeghe looks into the differences between male and female sexual fantasies and recasts the Freudian antithesis, Eros and Thanatos, as a contrast between two different forms of sexual pleasure.
Fluid and clear, the author’s approach is didactic yet never pedantic.
De Standaard
The author continually speaks to his readers and integrates their responses into his text by concurring with or contradicting them. This rhetorical strategy makes what he writes all the more convincing.
Adam believes it’s his job to keep everything in the Garden of Eden, where he lives with Eve, in good order – to curb nature, that is. Eve is beginning to sigh more and she’s taking less pleasure in life. Keen to do something about it, Adam yields to Eve’s fatigue and stops his maintenance work. From then on, everything is allowed to grow rampant.
One of the most original books of the year, by a long way
parutions.com
With each of these seven short stories, Olivier Schrauwen changes his style: he uses different colour palettes, makes stories without words, composes pages as miniatures instead of the usual grid layout. A unique exercise in style by an extraordinary talent.
Sublime, monumental, virtuoso. This literary non-fiction is more thrilling than a novel.
NRC Handelsblad
Like many Belgians of his generation, David Van Reybrouck knew Congo from stories of the old days. The author begins his gripping account in the 1870s and chronicles the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras, right up to 2010, the fiftieth anniversary of Congolese Independence.
A powerful look into the complexities of the human heart and prejudice *****
Comic Heroes Magazine
An enjoyable, flowing and exceptionally readable graphic novel about the author’s relationship with a Togolese political refugee. The story consists of two parts, in which we see the same relationship from two different perspectives. The visual narrative is vivid and follows a rhythm that matches the story perfectly.
Linthout’s choice to leave his pencil-work bare, is a masterstroke
Blog Critics
Willy Linthout has created a powerful, groundbreaking graphic novel that grabs the reader by the throat. From the very first page, he draws us into the difficult processes that await Charles as he lurches between loneliness, grief, incomprehension and love, often losing sight of the difference between reality and fiction.
Upon its publication, ‘The Wrong Place’ set off artistic fireworks in the Flemish graphic novel scene. This comic strip is bursting with artistic ambition: Brecht Evens has introduced a new and daring style with his expressive drawings and powerful choices of colour.
A tremendous novel, often horrifically funny and always unsettling
Irish Times
‘The Guard’ is set largely in the underground car park of a luxurious block of flats. Two guards, are never relieved. Terrin tells a strongly allegorical story of 21st century society. ‘The Guard’ is not only an enthralling psychological novel, but also encompasses oppressiveness, emotion and sensuality.
Old Helena looks back on her youth, the loves she has known, her marriage and the distressing time she experienced in World War I. The topic and style make ‘While the Gods Were Sleeping’ in all respects an exceptional literary experience.
A masterful symbiosis of colour, form and composition
Boekenpauw jury
Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale, ‘The Secret of the Nightingale’s Throat’ is a literary retelling that will appeal to readers of all ages. In the long line of illustrators who have made pictures to accompany Andersen’s tale, few have managed to catch the emperor’s despair as vividly as Carll Cneut.
Journalism, only better than that; the literature of reality
Liberation
They walk from market to market, sleeping in huts and schools, but gradually the power of the colonel starts to decline and the guide becomes increasingly insecure. The ancient landscape brings back powerful memories of Joris’ childhood village.
Majestic. A book like this is written once a decade at most.
Dagblad van het Noorden
1943. In rich and vivid language, Els Beerten maps out the hopes, dreams and desires of four friends, deftly capturing the blurring of the boundaries between good and evil, black and white. A moving and subtle portrayal of the darkest pages of our history. All of the characters follow their instincts and act in good faith. But what happens when the course you have chosen turns out to be the wrong one?
A poetic trip and an aesthetic shock that makes your jaw drop
Knack
As the title suggests, this book has a very meditative, dreamlike quality. At the beginning of the book, the story seems to consist of short, individual anecdotes. As you read on, it becomes clear that, in spite of the unexpected twists and turns, everything forms a coherent whole in which the ideas flow together seamlessly.
In the middle of the night a million different butterflies fly round the head of Stach, a young elephant. Stach is completely bewildered, but his parents know what he has to do. He must set out in pursuit of the butterflies. On his journey Stach realises that no one sees the butterflies but him.
