Writers abroad

Until recently, the success of Dutch writers abroad has being mainly confined to Germany. It has taken a long time for Dutch books to find their way onto the bookshelves in other countries. “Dutch literature is unfortunately not only seen by the Dutch themselves as inconsequential”, wrote Hermans jokingly in his polemical essay collection Mandarijnen op zwavelzuur in 1964, however this assertion has now become outdated –also in connection to his own books. A growing number of Dutch authors are being translated, and no longer just into German or English. This has certainly led to the following success; that of Gerbrand Bakker who, in 2010, was the first Dutch writer to win the prestigious Impac Dublin Award for his first novel Boven is het Stil (English title The Twin).