It has been almost 20 years since ‘Nine Open Arms’ appeared and 12 years ago the successor ‘Fings war’ was released. Both books helped me emerge as an author. They are books that are particularly dear to me, because they arose from the stories my grandmother told me about a house at the end of a long winding road in South Limburg.
And now, for the first time, both books are bundled together in a clump of about 600 pages.
The book will be published in mid-March 2022.
Ludwig Volbeda and I have won two awards. ‘Whole Stories for a Half Soldier’ won silver and gold!
Yes, Ludwig and I have our second nomination! This time from the Children’s and Youth Jury Flanders. ‘Whole Stories for a Half Soldier’ is competing for the prize. The KJV is the largest reading jury in Flanders and Brussels for children and young people between the ages of 4 and 16. An adult jury makes a selection from the range of Flemish and Dutch children’s and youth books for different age groups. A youth jury reads the books and chooses a winner. The last edition had no fewer than 11,000 followers! ‘Whole Stories for a Half Soldier’ is one of six books nominated in the 12+ category.
On April 10, Ludwig Volbeda and I received the Woutertje Pieterse Prize 2021 for ‘Whole Stories for a Half Soldier’. It happened in the radio program ‘de Taalstaat’ by Frits Spits. Jury chairman Abdelkader Benali presented us with the prize. Afterwards we drank fake wine, outside in the parking lot of the NPO. Of course it was still very hard corona time. Dik Zweekhorst and Wendy Wilbers from Querido publishers also provided a festive cake. And despite the fact that the weather was a bit drizzly, we were still pleasantly warm. Afterwards I drove back to Rotterdam on my own. The backseat was filled with the life-size check, I heard us win on the radio news and thought: Sometimes life takes a wonderful turn.