From the 26th of January 2015 I will be the Schoolwriter of ‘De Kleine Kapitein’ a school in Amsterdam.Untill the beginning of June I will teach the children from 9-11 years about writing stories en poems, about the fun of reading. We’ll make a adventure by letting language out of it’s cage. We’ll head for the jungle of words.
In the meanwhile I will also talk to parents and teachers about the possibilities of creative writing ánd reading.
Last week I was in Spain when I received an e-mail from Claudia Bedrick from ‘Enchanted Lion’ that the American edition of ‘Nine Open Arms’ had received two stars, one by ‘Kirkus Reviews’ and one by ‘Publishers weekly’. As I was unfamiliar with the starsystem in the United States I did not comprehend the enthusiastic response by Claudia (‘You and John (the translator) seem to make an amazing team!’) In Holland newspapers use also a starsystem to review books, but the maximum is five stars. Only later on my Dutch editor Dik Zweekhorst explained to me that it is very special that the book received so many stars.
Here are parts of the reviews.
Kirkus Reviews: ‘Lindelauf lures readers into the intrigue and mystery of it all and then demands their intense concentration. Every element of the tale has a purpose, and in the end, the multiple layers of past and present seperate and come together in surprising, often discomfing twists and turns. A challenging and entirely unique Dutch import.’
Publisher’s Weekly: ‘Lindelauf’s masterful rendering of fraught yet loving sisterly ties, snappy dialogue, gravery mysteries and ‘traces of tragical tragedy’from generations past combine to humurous and poignant effect in this gripping tale of eclectic families and inveterate wanderers in search of a welcoming home.’
So: Hurray!
The books ‘Nine Open Arms’ and ‘the Heaven of Heivisj’ have last year been translated by acclaimed author and translator Daniel Hugo and published bij Protea publishers. And not without succes! The reviews of both books are wonderfull. And on top of this, SASNEV (the South African Centre for the Neterlands and Flanders) has invited me to come to South Africa and visit the mains South African cities on a booktour. Probably it will happen in the second half of October 2015.