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Welcome to the first issue in Litro’s World Series in translation: the lekker Dutch issue. Once again, we step into the breach to bring readers a strong selection of contemporary stories and poetry from the Netherlands.
Much has been made in recent years of the struggle many great Dutch writers have faced in reaching a wider audience, largely because of the limited availability of translated Dutch literature in the post-war period. Only recently has much modern Dutch fiction become widely available in English. We published a Dutch issue in 2010, bringing London readers work connected to writers such as Cees Nooteboom, perhaps the greatest living Dutch writer. We also translated the opening of Louis Couperus’s great novel Eline Vere, and featured some of the Netherlands’ current crop of contemporary writers, including Tessa de Loo, Otto de Kat and Abdelkader Benali.
In this second Dutch issue, we continue where we left off, bringing a flash of orange into a dull English February. We have poetry from Holland’s National Poet and Poet Laureate Ramsey Nasr, as well as a piece of biblical flash fiction from up-and-coming poet Nyk de Vries, translated by David Colmer, whose translation of Gerbrand Bakker’s The Twin won the 2010 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Celebrated Nigerian-Flemish writer Chika Unigwe brings us a beautiful and poignant tale from Nigeria of sex, religion, gender and relationships. Handpicked writers can also be found online, where we will feature the winner of our special Dutch-themed short story competition, whose prize is a vintage Dutchie bicycle. Read Rebecca Cordingly’s winning story, The Bike Ride.
This special Dutch issue, and the upcoming Olympics, have also inspired us to host a free Dutch sports and literature festival, Double Dutch, all day on February 28 at The Serpentine Bar and Kitchen in Hyde Park. So don’t fear the winter greys: we have plenty of colour to send your way. We hope you enjoy this issue, come and say hello at the festival, and most of all, continue to read Litro.
