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.
Stunning. A splendid, compulsive reading experience
Maaza Mengiste
The young, headstrong Saba wants to go to school, whereas her brother Hagos is unable to speak, read and write. The siblings, who have an extremely close bond, both refuse to conform to the roles imposed on them by gender and society. A compelling, vivid novel about the everyday challenges, feelings, intimacy, hopes and fears of refugees in an East-African camp.
JURY OF THE SILVER AND GOLD PAINT BRUSHES ON ‘CIRCUS NIGHT’
A little girl goes swimming with her mother and dreams about all the things she’ll dare to do when she’s bigger. She makes wild plans and dreams big, but secretly she’s glad she can be small for a while yet. ‘Later When I’m Big’ is a poetic book in which reality and fantasy overlap.
A sea of beauty. It’s difficult to imagine a more beautiful plea for love.
De Standaard
Penguin crosses the ocean to the house of his friend Bear. He wants to tell him a big secret, so big that it will change everything: he’s in love with Bear. Even the most hard-hearted of readers will be captivated by this love story for its humour and the playful, exceptional use of colour. ‘A Sea of Love’ shows that love is love, no matter who you are.
Revolusi. Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World
Monumental. A book whose force only increases as you turn its pages. ****
De Standaard
David Van Reybrouck’s ‘Revolusi’ is the first book to go beyond the national perspective and demonstrate the global significance of Indonesia’s struggle for independence. In his familiar stirring and engaged style, and based on countless conversations with witnesses from different countries, David Van Reybrouck once again presents a penetrating reconstruction of a struggle for independence.
A dog asks a cat to tell it something, anything at all. But the cat can’t think of a single thing. Then the dog flips things around and challenges the cat to think of nothing. It blows a fuse in the cat’s head: there’s always something. Something or nothing, that’s the question in this fun and philosophical picture book.
Schoeters overwhelms the reader with a rhetorical force borrowed from thrillers and from Tolkien. ****
De Standaard
Hunter White lives for the big game hunt. An immensely wealthy American share trader, he goes to Africa to shoot a rhinoceros, the last of the Big Five he has yet to bag. In this page-turner Schoeters takes us into the twisted mind of a Western hunter. White is guided by a morally dubious compass as he weighs up the value of a life, whether of a person or of an animal. A compelling ode to wild nature and a sharp critique of how we relate to Africa.
A flawless novel with an atmosphere and intensity reminiscent of Graham Swift and Ian McEwan.
Trouw
Peter Terrin takes you with him in this tragic, compelling love story to a crucial episode in the lives of Simon and Carla in the late 1980s. Despite their difference in age, Simon and Carla throw themselves into a passionate relationship, with far-reaching consequences. ‘All the Blue' is a sensitive and sensual novel about friendship and love, and about the delicate quest for an identity of one’s own.
You really do want to keep on looking at his illustrations
MappaLibri
A girl searches in vain for her father. When she spots him in the distance and walks over to him, he disappears, and then appears to be waiting for her again. But as soon as she gets closer: nothing, nobody. This mysterious book with powerful monotypes addresses a topical issue: children in search of their roots and family bonds.
A philosophical story that will leave you speechless, with equally delicate illustrations
Pluizuit
A white little girl plays indoors in her safe white room and constructs a fantasy life for herself. At night she dreams of adventures in the world outside. ‘Blanca’ is a philosophical story about not being able to go out and being thrown back on your own resources, a warm ode to the imagination, dreams and desires. The sensory illustrations in soft hues show how colourful white actually is.
Van Der Veken's line is so sharp that his world is beautifully streamlined.
THE NEW YORKER ON ‘FABRICA GRAFICA’
In ‘Boats’ we dive into the wonderful world of ships and shipping. The book includes a quirky selection from the technical aspects of ships, and is peppered with extraordinary facts and anecdotes. The playful illustrations in 'ligne claire' style and the extensive technical drawings make this book a graphic masterpiece for every captain in the making.
Spit set the bar high, then launched herself over it with linguistic agility and skill
De Tijd
Leo has been together with her boyfriend Simon for ten years. Their happiness is shattered after he comes home excitedly with a brand-new tattoo behind his ear. Simon’s sudden odd behaviour turns out to be the prelude to a psychotic episode, caused by a bipolar disorder. Spit convincingly portrays the oppressiveness, manoeuvrability and exhaustion resulting from life with a psychotic partner.
De Gryse knows how to grab a reader by the scruff of the neck
De Morgen
Marieke is the youngest of four sisters in a family with an absentee father and an unstable mother. She works in a care home, where she’s happiest in the kitchen. 'Pork Chops' a tragicomic tale about sticking up for yourself and about caring – but above all it’s an ode to comfort food.
Yet another triumphant experiment for the award-winning Timmers
New York Times
Elephant is shipwrecked, right in the middle of the ocean. Luckily he finds an island that’s just big enough to stand on. Several rescue attempts go awry, but the island becomes a wonderful place in the process. In this jolly book, Leo Timmers swaps his beloved wheeled vehicles for boats. ‘Elephant’s Island’ is captivating proof of Timmers’ skill as an illustrator and storyteller.
A beautifully written debut about loss and (step) motherhood. With immense compassion, Van Offel draws psychological portraits that cannot be viewed independently from identity politics and the wider political situation in Israel.
An intelligent play about the complexity of identity
De Standaard
2015. What at first looks like an oil slick close to the cliffs turns out to be a wetsuit. Bones are sticking out of the flippers. Even with the help of the police, nobody is able to identify the corpse. Kicking off like a Scandinavian crime story, ‘The Wetsuitman’ leads from pastiche to a social drama in the ‘jungle’, the refugee camp in Calais.
A view of the world that is as warm-hearted as it is horrifying
Jury Toneelschrijfprijs
A pregnant woman fantasizes about the future life of her unborn daughter. One thing is certain: that future will be far from unproblematic. The abstract and poetic ‘Deerskin’ invites us to think about a future in which humans are no longer at the controls.
Incredibly carefully thought-out, refined, perfectionistic and subtle, but also unbearable and heart-breaking
BRUZZ
In contrast to his comic book heroes, Aaron lacks a talent for witty one-liners, breath-taking courage and a woman in need of rescue. As the summer slowly passes, he is forced to confront something he would rather not face. Ben Gijsemans’ drawings are meticulously detailed, and in their sometimes slow-motion narrative rhythm they perfectly portray Aaron’s struggle with his feelings. A beautiful but painful and subtle portrait.
A clear and accessible book written with children in mind
De Morgen
In this fun looking book the authors take an accessible approach to children’s most frequently asked questions about microbes, bacteria and viruses – the kinds of questions we are all preoccupied with in this era dominated by the Corona crisis. Sebastiaan Van Doninck’s illustrations are cheerful, colourful and fun.
This nonfiction book plunges us into the intriguing world of secret agents around the globe. From an overview of famous spies and fancy gadgets to tips to kickstart your own career as a spy. The imaginative and atmospheric illustrations complement the text and make 'Espionage' a gorgeous book for readers of all ages.
1972. Young Beatrice is transported back to the roaring twenties when she finds a photo album in a discarded bag and goes in search of the places in the pictures. Drenched in nostalgia and melancholy, with detailed drawings dominated by shades of red and brown, ‘Beatrice’ is a story full of enchantment and atmosphere.
Van den Broeck has a very keen eye. But she also has a great mind. ****
De Standaard
Charlotte Van den Broeck is primarily known as a poet – in that capacity she opened the guest of honour presentation by Flanders and the Netherlands at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2016 – but ‘Bold Ventures’ is her extraordinary and highly distinctive debut as a non-fiction writer.
Wonderfully strange and strangely wonderful, an epic dream captured in superbly meticulous detail
Shaun Tan
A paper boat is launched in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It makes a long journey, meeting the strangest of beings, passing between towering mangroves and braving a devastating storm. In ‘The Wanderer’, his debut, Peter Van den Ende presents a wordless spectacle of pure imagination.
Vermeire penetrates to the core of Monet’s artistry
De Standaard
Claude Monet immortalised his love for his garden in hundreds of paintings: we all know his world-famous waterlilies. In much of Vermeire’s work plants, flowers, trees and animals occupy an important place, so she is the perfect illustrator to capture Monet’s explosions of colour in a picture book.
Penelope is a surgeon on the Syrian front. Returning home is becoming increasingly difficult. While her daughter is growing up and worries about the size of her nose, Penelope tries to save human lives. In dynamic watercolour compositions with dialogues that reveal razor-sharp observation, Vanistendael wonders how to deal with a choice that is not a real choice at all.
De Leeuw does not need much to create a world of his own, showing us that simple can be great.
JaapLeest
While his sister has been in the land of Nod for a while, brother is not yet ready for bed. First he has to tuck in his cuddly toy, chase away bad dreams, count the stars and feel cold. 'Sleep Tight!’ is a cheerful little book about not wanting to go to sleep, the power of fantasy and… of books.
Typical Timmers slapstick, with plenty of quirkiness, optical illusions and eye for detail
JaapLeest
The king has seen a dragon and is afraid to go to bed before his three bravest knights have slain it. But where does the dragon hide in the dark? The three knights are undaunted, convinced they will soon find him. But it is not as easy as they had thought. A great adventure in saturated colour.
The illustrations, with a retro-futuristic streak, give the book a stylish aura.
Pluizer
'Planes’ is a remarkable reference work for pilots-to-be. It answers all kinds of questions about flying, the components of a plane, the influence of the weather and the atmosphere and about communication in an ever more crowded airspace. The unique illustrations in the so-called atomic style contribute to the book’s industrial look. Van Der Veken produces clever, highly stylised illustrations that are not only technically correct but also atmospheric and poetic.
An elderly acting couple take stock of their love for each other and for their profession. All their productions are flops except one: a popular repertory classic about a pair of swearing and hard-drinking intellectuals that brings in money and audiences.
This passionate admirer is generous and always worth reading.
HUMO
Odes to spring, to Leonard Cohen, to the cleaning lady, to failure, to Kofi Annan and of course to love. Whatever his topic, Van Reybrouck drops his guard completely in his subtle and poignant odes.
'Night Parents' is a swirling mix of intimate night-time conversations, brooding diary excerpts, meaningful flashbacks and scenes filled with slapstick, culminating in a gothic novel complete with sawn-off fingertips and family secrets.
In ‘Cursed Wood’ Johan de Boose gives voice to an object rather than a human being. A piece of wood, originally from the Cross of Christ, travels through Europe. The reader is taken on a journey past the most dramatic events in European history, all of which the wood has witnessed.
Bart Van Loo is in top form. The Burgundians is impossible to put down and hits like a sledgehammer. A masterpiece.
De Morgen
‘The Burgundians’ takes the reader on a journey through a thousand years of European history, calling at cities such as Dijon, Paris, Lille, Ghent, Bruges and Delft, up to the time when the Seventeen Provinces arose and the Burgundian Empire came to an end. It tells a scintillating account of pyres and banquets, plagues and jousts, Joan of Arc, Jan van Eyck, Philip the Good and the Golden Fleece.
A feast for the eyes. Mannaert is one of the stars of the contemporary graphic novel
Enola
Yasmina's father is struggling to make ends meet, but luckily Yasmina knows the right people and places so she can serve him a delicious meal every day. But one day an addictive type of potato appears on the market with rather strange consequences for those who eat them. When her father falls victim to this mystery as well Yasmina decides that enough is enough.
Wildekids' biggest trump card is its playful, multi-layered text.
Theaterkrant
A bitter-sweet tale of poverty and its presence in the world of two inseparable children. Both heart-warming and heart-rending, with playful humour and plenty of imagination, two fierce firecrackers find each other in a priceless friendship.
A beautiful and refreshingly written Christmas story
MappaLibri
The unusual premise, Jan De Leeuw’s humour and light-hearted narrative style and the playful illustrations by Mattias De Leeuw make this winter fairy tale so much more than just another adaptation of the Christmas story. It is a book about giving and taking, with a touch of magic.
A great stylist, with an eye for detail and a knack for turning brief scenes into little gems
De Standaard
Jadran is five years older than Josh, but his head and his heart are those of a child much younger. When they find an injured young crane one day, Jadran wants to teach it to fly at any cost. The two boys go on a journey that is brave, adventurous and hopeless all at the same time. Poetic and sensitive without ever becoming sentimental.
A master of suspense and of the subtle untangling of painful situations *****
De Standaard
Her mother thinks Bianca is a girl that requires special treatment. Her father thinks she is unmanageable. And Bianca herself? She doesn’t say a word. Until one hot afternoon in August, Billie King, her favourite actress, is sitting in the living room, sipping a cup of tea. With Billie King around, Bianca is brave enough to take a decision. Moeyaert creates an oppressive atmosphere, in which smouldering tensions can erupt any moment.
Calm Leon takes Otto on a journey through the world of colour. This Encyclopaedia Otto-colorista is a feast for the eyes: after the restrained grey, black and white, the pages are a riot of colour and detail and there is always something new to discover. An abundance of colour you can’t stop looking at.
Vereecken captures the harsh reality in poetic sentences. An extraordinarily strong novel ****
Cutting Edge
Summer 1914. Through the eyes of eleven-year-old Alice we see the increasing alarm among the grownups: war is said to be imminent. Alice’s naivety makes way for a brutal confrontation with reality, but ‘Everything Will Be Fine, Forever’ is first and foremost a celebration of life and hope.
An unusually atmospheric and touching book about jealousy, friendship and betrayal
Trouw
Eleven-year old Bent wants to break things and punch the new boy in the face. But behind all his anger lies fear and sadness. Jumping back and forth in time Herman van de Wijdeven peels away layer upon layer of the story, until we know what happened exactly on that fateful afternoon two days ago. Van de Wijdeven sketches a beautiful portrait of a friendship between boys that is being pushed off course.
A broad, shallow, teeming torrent of facts and marvels: Readers tempted to take a dip will be swept irresistibly along.
Kirkus Reviews
All aboard for a fascinating voyage of discovery in and around the water! In ‘Rivers’ Peter Goes travels to the most famous seas, lakes and rivers across Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Goes creates playful and extremely detailed double-page spreads in which text and image form a unified whole.
The editorial board of Cult Weekly magazine has called a crisis meeting. The image of a black woman on the cover of their latest issue has unleashed a social media storm. How sincere or how arrogant and patronising is their social engagement really?
The pleasure of drawing leaps off the pages, which are packed with jokes
MappaLibri
Daddy Monkey and his son are on their way home on the banana bike. But it’s so busy, and everyone’s driving so slowly! And Monkey Junior is in the mood for monkeying about. He escapes from his safety seat and goes off to explore the traffic jam. The street is like a playground! This wordless picture book is full of stories and fantastic details in vibrant colours.
The Father and the Philosopher. Saving the Husserl archives
A story comparable to a novel by Umberto Eco or Dan Brown, except for the fact that it really happened
De Volkskrant
At first an exciting story about smuggling manuscripts set against the backdrop of the persecution of Jews before and during the Second World War, this book indirectly develops into a history of European philosophy in the twentieth century.
Her illustrations are delicate, intimate and extremely beautiful.
The Guardian on ‘When David Lost His Voice’
In this stunning visual tour-de-force, much-lauded cartoonist and illustrator Judith Vanistendael reinvents herself. She returns to the essence: armed with scissors, glue, paper and a risograph printer, she creates the purest sequence possible. ‘Round the Block’ is an ode to fantasy and Vanistendael’s more than successful debut for a new target audience.
Magnificent book that honours all these coloured voices that are so often left out of the narrative
vileine.com (Hadjar Benmiloud)
A unique cultural history of the 1960s as a global phenomenon. This book deals with the usual counterculture suspects and the Flower Power generation, as well as the sensitivities and tastes of what American President Nixon called the Silent Majority. It takes into account the work of artists from Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia in a dazzling overview that puts the Sixties in a new perspective.
Twelve years after they had a short-lived but passionate relationship, the reserved Hermine and the tormented, suicidal writer Didier, drive to a conference in Vienna together. In this autobiographical love tragedy, Zvonik investigates with a delicate pen and psychological finesse to what extent it is possible to love someone, while at the same time keeping your distance.
Wild, dark, romantic and almost addictively well-written ****
Focus Knack
‘North’ is a carefully crafted and addictively well-written debut novel about ‘indecision in the choice’: the choice between two men, between art and life, between Vancouver and the harsh life in the north, and between the musical styles that are entwined with each location.
Morgan is a jazz pianist from Brussels, with Congolese roots. He has banished the images of his childhood in the tropics from his memories… Until an out-of-the-blue encounter changes his life, that is. This is a novel about ‘half-castes’, and how the Belgian colonizer used to treat these mixed race children, separating them forever from their biological family.
