•Amended
The six nominees for the Libris Literature Prize 2023 have been announced, for best Dutch-language novel of the year. They are the Dutch Anjet Daanje, Oek de Jong, Donald Niedekker and Peter Zantingh and the Flemish Yves Petry and Peter Terrin.
The jury, led by historian and professor Beatrice de Graaf, read a total of 235 fiction books to arrive at this selection of six. The winner will receive 50,000 euros and will be announced live on May 8 News hour.
Jury chairman De Graaf about the six nominated books:
Beatrice de Graaf on the nominees for the Libris Literature Prize
After reading the 235 books on the longlist, the jury concludes that the literature is changing. Because the world is also changing, for example as a result of current themes such as corona and the Ukraine war. Furthermore, novels are more diverse and genre-transcending than ever, says the jury. “Gender identity, discrimination, inequality, nature and climate are more than ever part of the infinitely wide range of literary subjects.”
Finally, the jury notes that writers are increasingly making novels about personal crises. “The number of self-help books turned out to be enormous.”
Last year Mariken Heitman won the prize with her book Wormmaan. Other well-known former winners are Connie Palmen (2016), Adriaan van Dis (2015), Tommy Wieringa (2013) and Dimitri Verhulst (2009).
Read below a summary of the jury reports of the six nominated books:
Anjet Daanje – The song of stork and dromedary
This is a fascinating literary quest that takes the reader from 19th century Yorkshire, through World War I in Picardy and finally to 21st century Groningen. Daanje wrote a genre-crossing novel about being born and dying, letting go and being trapped, loving and hating, faith and disbelief.
Oek de Jong – Man without a driver’s license
A story in which a narrator tries to get his driver’s license at a later age. But the novel offers much more than that: a life under a magnifying glass, a reflection on the past, on memories that surface. For De Jong, learning to drive becomes an allegory of learning to live.
Donald Niedekker – True descriptions from the permafrost
Niedekker gives the floor to Bartolomeo, a fictional crew member of the infamous North Pole expedition of Willem Barentsz in 1596. The ghost of this poetic seafarer escapes after four centuries from the melting permafrost due to global warming and still reports on the failed expedition.
Yves Petry – People are everywhere
A book about climate anger. A compelling journey through the thoughts of a forest ranger with ‘Waldschmerz’, an outsider who tries to get a grip on the demons in his head while brain-walking. He is furious at man’s destructive effect on nature. In order not to fall prey to total madness, he plots a murder.
Peter Terrin – The event
A book that investigates, digs, asks questions and evokes emotions. A novel that takes the reader into a labyrinth of human relationships that offers a new surprise, another mystery at every turn. All characters revolve around the literary legacy of Willem, a famous writer who recently passed away.
Peter Zantingh – Interim
The story of a father who boarded a train with his son to travel to his wife, who is staying in Germany for work. Why is Robin actually on his way to his wife? What is going on? As the train moves and landscapes flash by, Robin loses his certainties. An extraordinarily beautiful and delicate novel about love, hope and uncertainty.
