From the 2016 reviews of our Dutch literature in translation
100 Dutch-Language Poems – From the Medieval Period to the Present Day, selected and translated by Paul Vincent and John Irons
Joint winner of the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize 2016.
From the judges’ report:
The judges are commending not only the quality of the translations but the selection itself of poets and poems, and the composition of a whole that is even more than the sum of its parts.
We are impressed above all by the inventiveness, the variety, and often the sheer beauty of these English works, through which the Dutch poetic voices speak and sing to us.
Each English version faces its Dutch original and, given the paucity of such material, this volume will surely be around for many years’ – David Cooke on London Grip
This anthology goes a long way to fill the lacuna of Anglo-centric misunderstanding regarding the Low Lands as a largely uneventful place – this anthology proves that is simply not the case, and many of these poets have been closely guarded secrets in English translation for many years. Hopefully not for much longer. – Richie McCaffery in Glasgow Review of Books
Eline Vere by Louis Couperus, completely revised original translation by JT Grein
A strength of the book is its sure touch of reality. There are no cardboard-cut-out people: even the least-described characters are alive, and touchable.
It’s a delightful and – thanks to the clarity of its language – easy read. What a wonderful book. – Words Across Time
Angel by Arnold Jansen op de Haar, translated by Bernadette Jansen op de Haar
Angel is a book in its own class, fragments spattered on pages, episodes, essays, pieces of thought. In this it cleverly perhaps maps what’s left of the brain of its central character, Tijmen.
It’s a brilliant piece of writing from a remarkable writer. – Words Across Time
Coming up in 2017 – books translated from the Dutch
The Institute is a novel set in a boarding school for the blind. Its author is Vincent Bijlo, a well-known Dutch stand-up comedian, author and musician who was born blind. This book has been translated by Susan Ridder. Publication date: 27 April 2017
The Yellow House is a novel about Vincent van Gogh. Holland Park Press published the Dutch version of this novel in 2015 and it is a debut by Jeroen Blokhuis. It is translated by Asja Novak, she studied Dutch at UCL and this is her first major project. Publication date: 2 March 2017.
The Refrain of Other People’s Lives is a poetry collection by Arnold Jansen op de Haar and it is translated by John Irons, who with Paul Vincent won the Oxford-Weidenveld Translation Prize for 100 Dutch-Language Poems. The central theme of this collection is Arnold’s move from the Netherlands to England, quite apt in the current Brexit situation. Publication date: 30 March 2017.