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Flemish writer Lise Spit will write a Boekenweekgift next year. This was announced by the Dutch Writers’ Collective Propaganda Foundation (CPNB). Writer and columnist Raoul de Jong is responsible for Boekenweek’s article and its theme “I am everything she has. With this theme, the Foundation wants to think about the ‘plurality of our identity’. They are the youngest Boekenweek couple ever.
“Earlier this year I was asked if I wanted to write a Boekenweekgift, and to my surprise, I immediately said ‘yes,'” says 34-year-old Liz Speight, associated with Das Mag publishing.
Spit published short stories and poetry and gained fame in the book world with her debut It’s melting (2016). The novel has been translated into sixteen languages and made into a movie. “It is a great honor to join such a long line of beautiful names,” Speight says, referring to the authors who preceded her.
De Jong, in turn, says he is honored to have written the article. “I had to cry when I heard I could write the next Boekenweek article, with bubbles of snot and voices. Not every day someone like me, half Groningen and half Surinamese, a dance writer, is given such a great honor,” he says.
The 38-year-old columnist has previously written for Vrij Nederland, Het Parool and NRC Handelsblad. De Jong has also published six books.
A new generation of writers
“We are extremely honored to have these two great authors carry Boekenweek in 2023, as they are so widely acclaimed and loved and represent a new generation of writers who are conquering the literary world,” said CPNB Director Evelyn Andekirk.
Poet and classicist Elga Leonard Pfeiffer wrote this year’s gift titled Monterosso mon amour. It came out last April. Author Marek Lucas Reinfeldt addressed this year’s Boekenweek article.
