FICTION Published by Dutch Foundation for Literature DUTCH Issue Autumn 2020 NON– Introduction Author MIREILLE AN OPEN BERMAN MIND It is clear from the growing number of translations of Dutch non-fiction titles that the genre is being recognized and valued abroad. The most important Dutch non-fiction writers are able to compete with their peers in other countries: Renate Rubinstein, for example, may well be the Dutch Joan Didion; Anton de Kom is on an equal footing with Franz Fanon; Abel Herzberg rivals Primo Levi; and Jill Lepore’s historicising of the USA is something previously done for Europe by Geert Mak. The selection of non-fiction titles presented here shows that Dutch non-fiction is socially-engaged. Although these titles often derive their inspiration from the situation in the Netherlands, they reflect on burning issues that are currently playing out worldwide: concern about the climate crisis, a critical look at the colonial past, the denunciation of institutional racism. One constant in Dutch non-fiction is the Second World War. This period (and in particular the persecution of the Jews) has been the subject of debate for decades and remains still a moral benchmark. The authors in this brochure manage to transcend the perspective of Dutch society through their personal vision, an open mind and a candid tone. Perhaps it is Dutch free-thinking that has a say in this, but in any case it offers them the opportunity to look beyond the boundaries of a local culture. The Dutch Foundation for Literature aims to promote literary non-fiction that is surprising, moving and thought-provoking. This year some remarkable books have been published once more, and we would like to bring them to the attention of foreign publishers. Finding an international audience is important, not so much to propagate Dutch culture, but to create polyphony, to contribute to discussions that transcend the borders of countries and cultures. Translation grants are available for all the books presented here and, of course, for any other high-profile, remarkable and eye-opening literary non-fiction written in Dutch. 1 Author English title Tagline Sinan My Innumerable A moving, hard-hitting and often Identities humorous memoir that became Çankaya an immediate bestseller upon publication Cover of Dutch edition In the press When asked to give a speech on ‘breaking Combining his own experiences with his ‘I know no one who through boundaries’ at his old secondary viewpoint as an anthropologist, the writer reflects writes about racism, school, cultural anthropologist Sinan Çankaya on how identities are created. He concludes that it exclusion, discrimi- finds himself forced to describe his quest is a transaction with another, ‘I am, through you.’ nation and identity in for his identity. ‘But what do they want me Çankaya proposes that each person has multiple, such an in-depth, razor to say?’ he asks himself repeatedly. He can’t fluid, shifting identities. ‘A person is not just a sharp, powerful and help but think of the problems he faced due to man, heterosexual and white, not just a woman, yet nuanced manner as others constantly pigeonholing and defining black or homosexual. Our bodies are always Sinan Çankaya.’ him, and the discrimination he experienced at entwined with other identities, history and the Rutger Bregman, that very school. course of one’s life.’ bestselling author This is a universal story about a boy wrestling Çankaya, the son of hardworking Turkish himself from his environment, becoming socially ‘Çankaya describes migrant parents, shares with the reader the mobile and fighting back. It is a personal story his longing for a life as doubts and memories the invitation arouses in written in a literary style, acerbic and reminiscent a chameleon in a most him. As a pupil at the school, he had been notably of the French writer, Eddy Bellegueule, but more impressive way.’ taught by a history teacher who was a prominent reflective, layered, and more political. One might Vrij Nederland member of an extreme right political party. This describe the writer as a Dutch Ta Nehesi Coates, man’s contempt for the only Turkish-Dutch boy in sharing common ground with Kwame Appiah. the class was formative, as was his assertion that the boy would never amount to much. Dutch title As Çankaya describes his own life journey from Mijn ontelbare identiteiten emigrant child to lecturer at an Amsterdam uni- Year of publication versity, he demands the freedom to decide himself 2020 who he is. Constantly resisting the reduction of Page count his individuality to just one label, he tells painfully Biography Photo (© Marijn Smulders) 240 witty anecdotes about his drive for elasticity, and Sinan Çankaya (b. 1982) Sold copies the many micro-revolutions he initiated. Writing is a writer and cultural anthropologist. He earned a 10,000 with irony about his own masculinity and pride, he investigates the prejudice that hides within PhD on diversity within the Sample translation language and its registers. His work on structural police force, and went on Available to research ethnic profiling. racism in the Dutch police force as an anthropo- Publisher His journalistic writings logical researcher provides a perfect illustration of are published each month De Bezige Bij why the Black Lives Matter movement has gained at De Correspondent. He Rights such urgency. is currently working as a Marijke Nagtegaal lecturer at Amsterdam’s [email protected] Vrije Universiteit (VU). Uta Matten [email protected] Dutch Non-Fiction Autumn 2020 2 3 Author English title Tagline Thalia The Right of the Fastest A timely investigation into why — How Traffic Has personal transport is dictated by Verkade Become Increasingly speed and efficiency and what we With Marco te Antisocial have lost in the process Brömmelstroet Cover of Dutch edition In the press Now people are spending more time at Following the automobile revolution in ‘Thalia Verkade is one home, rethinking the way we design public America, wide access to cars changed our lives. of those people who space has become more urgent than ever. All Cars began to take priority over other road users continue digging where over the world, initiatives are being launched and the freedom they afforded became a kind others would stop, to rearrange cities and streets. Bogota has of dependency. The idea that traffic must flow before finally coming up imposed 50km/hr speed limits, built bike comes from nineteenth-century Paris – after a with the most wonderful lanes and instigated car-free Sundays; part revolution, a cholera epidemic and economic and surprising discover- of Brussels has become a ‘home zone’ with problems, the city was streamlined, alleys were ies and insights.’ restricted traffic; cars are being banished replaced with boulevards allowing faster passage, Joris Luyendijk, author from the streets of Madrid, and in Great one-way-streets were created for safety. With and journalist Britain a court case has been launched to stop the metaphor of a circulatory system (traffic as building motorways with public money. blood) came the belief in flow, and the concepts of ‘These writers have blocked arteries and bypasses. And with this came the gift of looking again From traffic jams to bicycle highways, from haste and road rage. at things you thought sleeping policemen to shared cars, the way we Verkade learns that building new motorways you knew, like your own move around has an enormous impact on the doesn’t actually reduce traffic but increases the street, your bike or your way our streets, our cities and our society are number of cars. Even as we commute faster and life.’ arranged. It even determines how we interact faster, we still arrive home at the same time. If Arjen van Veelen, author with each other. In The Right of The Fastest, you make offices easier to get to, people move fur- Dutch title Thalia Verkade argues for a new vision of public ther away. So how can we do things differently? ‘Alice in Trafficland’ Het recht van de snelste. Hoe ons space and an infrastructure in which people, not The answer lies in reclaiming the streets as part of De Groene verkeer steeds asocialer werd machines, take centre stage. our natural habitat. Amsterdammer Year of publication Journalist Thalia Verkade’s journey begins with 2020 the ‘traffic jam issue’ in the Netherlands, a small, Page count densely-populated country where the total length Biography Photo (© De Correspondent) 254 of traffic jams is reported on the daily news. Not Thalia Verkade (b. 1979) is a called upon by international Sold copies self-driving cars but the bicycle, Holland’s USP, journalist who covers mobil- media as a talking head on 10,000 is the answer, she decides – and bicycle super- ity for De Correspondent. the subject. highways. When she seeks the advice of town Previously she worked for Sample translation planner (nickname: ‘bicycle professor’) Marco te nrc.next and NRC Handels- Available blad. She couldn’t have writ- Brömmelstroet, all her preconceptions are turned Publisher ten this book without Marco on their head. Why do people need to cycle as fast te Brömmelstroet (b. 1980), De Correspondent as possible? Why do you even need to travel in a Professor of Urban Mobility Rights straight line? Futures at the University of Janklow & Nesbit Agency Amsterdam. Marco te Bröm- Zoe Nelson melstroet is a town and [email protected] urban planner, frequently Dutch Non-Fiction Autumn 2020 4 5 Author English title Tagline Pieter Hiding in Plain Sight A prize-winning exploration — How a Jewish Girl of nationalism and identity, van Os Escaped Death and transformation and survival Found Love Among the Nazis Cover of Dutch edition In the press Polish Catholics believed she was one of Various encounters along the way also allow ‘In almost every sent- them.