Three Belgians nominated for Boekenbon literature prize
One of the three major Dutch-language literature prizes counts three Belgians on its longlist.
Tijl Nuyts, Gaea Schoeters and Charlotte Van den Broeck are the three Belgian authors with a shot at winning the Boekenbon Literatuurprijs, which along with the Boon prize and the Libris prize is among the most coveted in the Dutch-speaking world. It is extended to the author of the best literary book of the year.
Nuyts, typically a poet, made his novelist debut with Grondwerk (which translates to groundwork), a dystopian story about a naked mole rat from Africa who gets sent on a mission to Schaerbeek and crosses paths with climate activists. Nuyts has won the Herman de Coninck prize for his poetry.
Schoeters’ story is named Het Geschenk (the gift), a satirical novel in which the Berlin Zoo has the pleasure of welcoming 20,000 elephants as a gift from the president of Botswana, a sarcastic “thank you” for tightened regulations on hunting trophies.
Finally, Van den Broeck’s book is all about the now extinct Tasmanian tiger. Een vlam Tasmaanse tijgers takes us from the Antwerp Zoo, across Europe, all the way to the Australian island state of Tasmania.
The three Belgians face fierce competition from 12 Dutch authors. Whether they will be shortlisted or even win remains to be seen, but making the longlist is already a feat in itself, so we congratulate them. May their literary careers be long and successful!