Leo Timmers, David Van Reybrouck & David Colmer in the UK

In early October, nonfiction author David Van Reybrouck and children’s book illustrator Leo Timmers attended several literary events in the UK with their translator David Colmer. Alone or in pairs, they visited Wigtown Book Festival, Cheltenham Festivals and different locations in London.

On Saturday 5 October Leo Timmers visited Wigtown Book Festival, a ten day celebration of books in Scotland's national book town. Leo presented his children’s book Bear's Lost Glasses.

On Sunday 6 October, Leo Timmers did the same at Cheltenham Festivals, where he was joined by his translator David Colmer. He also made a big drawing with children. Leo and David's event in Cheltenham was really well attended.

Afterwards, Leo travelled to London for a mini tour visiting bookshops and schools. He stopped at Chocolit in Clapham, Battersea Bookshop in Battersea Power Station, Ashmount Primary School in Crouch End with Pickled Pepper Books, and West End Lane Bookshop in West Hampstead. He definitely left some very happy 5 and 6 year olds in North London. 

On Sunday 6 October, David talked about ‘Revolusi’ (translated by David Colmer and David McKay) for an audience of 375 people. David was paired with some excellent speakers who also spoke about colonialism and imperialism from different perspectives.

On Monday 7 October, David Van Reybrouck and David Colmer were interviewed at the British Library by Elizabeth Pisani. The audience was hugely engaged. All the books available to buy were sold out and there was a huge queue for signing. 

Revolusi is shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and was shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize. 

• The Cundill History Prize is the world’s leading prize for history writing. The prize is awarded annually to the book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and diverse appeal.
• The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction aims to recognise and reward the best of non-fiction and is open to authors of any nationality.

All these events are part of our Flip through Flanders project, promoting Dutch-language literature from Flanders across the UK and Ireland. Read more.