World Editions Brings Boekenweek to North America
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In the Netherlands and Belgium, Boekenweek (Book Week) is an annual celebration of literature, happening every Spring since 1932. Events are held across each country during Boekenweek, and include book signings, readings, and panel discussions. Boekenweek is always kicked off with the “book ball,” an event attended by writers and publishers alike. 2019 marks the 84th annual Boekenweek.
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Every year, the festival has a different theme, 2019’s theme being The Mother The Woman, and a well-known Dutch or Flemish author is asked to write a novella specifically for Boekenweek that will be given out all festival long. In 2016, World Editions author Esther Gerritsen wrote the Boekenweek gift of which 600,000 copies were handed out. Gerritsen’s novel Craving, about a dying mother and her strained relationship with her daughter, is a perfect fit to this year’s theme.
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World Editions publishes many well-regarded Dutch and Flemish authors in English, and this year many of our titles are well-suited to Boekenweek’s theme, including Craving, You Have Me to Love by Jaap Robben, We & Me by Saskia de Coster, Speechless by Tom Lanoye, His Name is David by Jan Vantoortelboom, The Woman Who Fed the Dogs by Kristien Hemmerechts, and The Darkness that Divides Us by Renate Dorrestein.
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This year, Boekenweek will take place in the Netherlands from March 23rd to March 31st, and then in Belgium from April 1st to April 7th, and World Editions will be celebrating the work of eight of the most important contemporary writers from the Netherlands and Belgium recently released in English translation. Bestselling and prize-winning authors Kristien Hemmerechts, Christine Otten (The Last Poets), Saskia de Coster, and Annelies Verbeke (Thirty Days) will be touring the US during Boekenweek.
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Boekenweekgeschenk
This year, World Editions has selected His Name is David to serve as our version of the traditional Boekenweekgeschenk, or Book Week Gift. In the Netherlands and Belgium, a select writer is commissioned to write the gift book, usually a novella, with a print run of 800,000. The gift book is given to bookstore patrons who spend a certain amount in the store, and it also serves as a train ticket to travel anywhere in the Netherlands for free on the last Sunday of Boekenweek. To celebrate the first year of Boekenweek in the US, enter our Goodreads giveaway to win a copy of His Name is David. The novel will be published on April 16 and is available for preorder.
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Featured BookstoreCheck out this beautiful Boekenweek display from Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, Washington. Buy a World Editions title in the store and get a free Boekenweek tote bag and galley of a forthcoming Flemish or Dutch title from World Editions. You can also find Queen Anne on Instagram and Facebook at @qabookco.
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World Editions Celebrates BoekenweekAuthors Saska de Coster (We & Me), Annelies Verbeke (Thirty Days), and Kristien Hemmerechts (The Woman Who Fed the Dogs) read from their books at our Boekenweek celebration with Flanders House and Dutch Culture USA at the New York TImes Building in Manhattan. The US tour continues below!
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Friday, March 29
We & Me by Saskia de Coster
Connie Werner Reichert, The Badass Writer
Twitter: @conniewreichert
Instagram: @conniewernerreichert
Book Review
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Sunday, March 24 at 1 pm
New Dominion Book Shop
Charlottesville, VA
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Monday, March 25 at 7 pm
Wharf Location, 70 District Square SW, Washington DC
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Saturday, March 30 at 1 pm
Muriel's Jackson Square
and
Sunday, March 31 at 10 am
Hotel Monteleone Royal Ballroom
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New Orleans Literary FestivalSunday, March 31 at 1 pm
Hotel Monteleone Queen Anne Ballroom
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Recap: New OrleansKristien Hemmerechts (The Woman Who Fed the Dogs), Annelies Verbeke (Thirty Days), and Saskia de Coster (We & Me) had a blast at the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. Check out the photo of Saskia and Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours.
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Christine Otten at Northern Virginia Community College
"What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?"
Cultural Crosspollination or Cultural Appropriation?
Tuesday, April 2
7-9 pm
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Christine Otten at Columbia University
Interview with Professor Brent Edwards
Thursday, April 4
6-8 pm
Interchurch Center
New York City
Open to the Public
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| Read all of our Dutch and Flemish novels!
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| Page Created by Sabrina Greene
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