ANP Productions | Source: ANP
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Amsterdam
The thriller The Camino by Anya Niewierra has won the NS Audience Award 2023. This was announced on Wednesday evening during the broadcast of the program EenVandaag. The Camino received more than 34 percent of the more than 106,000 votes cast.
It was the first time that 59-year-old Niewierra had been nominated for the NS Audience Award. The other titles that still had a chance to win the prize were Alter ego by Esther Verhoef, The Royal House by Herman Koch, Koraalrif by Suzanne Vermeer, What silence wants by Arthur Japin and We were, I am. Away from Ruinerwold by Israel van Dorsten.
The thriller is about Lotte, whose husband unexpectedly commits suicide while walking the Camino. She will walk the same route to find out what happened. She gradually discovers that her husband Emil, a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina, was not at all who he always claimed to be.
Voting fraud
The book prize was not awarded last year because of widespread voting fraud. The problems came to light after false votes were received for the book Het Coronabedrog by Thierry Baudet. After investigation it turned out that the vote had been “largely manipulated”.
Various measures have been taken this year to ensure fair proceedings. For example, the free choice was removed and it was only possible to vote for the six books that sold best between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.
Largest audience award
The NS Audience Award is the largest audience award for Dutch books. The winner will receive the honorary title of Book of the Year. The winning author receives a sculpture by artist Jeroen Henneman and a cash prize of 7,500 euros. In 2021, the NS Audience Award went to Lale Gül for her book I’m going to live.
