World Editions Brings Boekenweek to North America
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.
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.

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.
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.
BOEKENWEEK IN THE NETHERLANDS
BOEKENWEEK IN FLANDERS

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

Featured Bookstore

Check 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. 

World Editions Celebrates Boekenweek

Authors 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! 
North American Blog Tour
Saturday, March 23
The Woman Who Fed the Dogs by Kristien Hemmerechts
Joe Brosnan, Criminal Element
Twitter and Facebook: @crimehq
Instagram: @crime_hq
Book Review, Author Q&A, and Giveaway
Sunday, March 24
We & Me by Saskia de Coster
Danielle Kelloway, BooknBrunch
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @BooknBrunch
Book Review
Monday, March 25
Craving by Esther Gerritsen
Speechless by Tom Lanoye

Katherine Kleffner, The Nerdy Girl Express
Twitter: @Kleffnotes and @TheNerdyGirlExp
Book Reviews
Tuesday, March 26
You Have Me to Love by Jaap Robben
The Woman Who Fed the Dogs by Kristien Hemmerechts

Kayla Whitter, A Paper Arrow
Facebook: @apaperarrow
Twitter and Instagram: @kaylakedavra
Book Reviews

Wednesday, March 27
Craving by Esther Gerritsen
Dick Leonardo, Bookroom Reviews
Twitter: @bookroomreviews
Book Review



Esther Gerritsen


Tom Lanoye


Jaap Robben

Thursday, March 28
Craving by Esther Gerritsen
We & Me by Saskia de Coster
You Have Me to Love by Jaap Robben

Meredith Smith, Dolce Bellezza
Twitter: @bellezzamjs
Instagram: bellezza.mjs
Book Reviews and Giveaways
Friday, March 29
We & Me by Saskia de Coster

Connie Werner Reichert, The Badass Writer
Twitter: @conniewreichert
Instagram: @conniewernerreichert
Book Review
Saturday, March 30
Thirty Days by Annelies Verbeke
We & Me by Saskia de Coster

Meg Wessell, A Bookish Affair
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @abookishaffair
Book Reviews
Sunday, March 31
Thirty Days by Annelies Verbeke
You Have Me to Love by Jaap Robben

Katherine Krige, A Writer's Take
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @KatherineKrige
Book Reviews

Monday, April 1
You Have Me to Love by Jaap Robben
Marilyn Panton, Storywraps
Facebook and Instagram: @Storywraps
Twitter: @Storywraps1
Book Review

North American Events

Annelies Verbeke and Kristien Hemmerechts at the Virginia Festival of the Book

Sunday, March 24 at 1 pm
New Dominion Book Shop
Charlottesville, VA

Annelies Verbeke and Kristien Hemmerechts at Politics & Prose

Monday, March 25 at 7 pm
Wharf Location, 70 District Square SW, Washington DC

Kristien Hemmerechts at the New Orleans Literary Festival

Saturday, March 30 at 1 pm
Muriel's Jackson Square
and
Sunday, March 31 at 10 am
Hotel Monteleone Royal Ballroom

World Editions Presents: Saskia de Coster, Kristien Hemmerechts, and Annelies Verbeke

New Orleans Literary Festival

Sunday, March 31 at 1 pm
Hotel Monteleone Queen Anne Ballroom

Recap: New Orleans

Kristien 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

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

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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