YOU probably didn’t notice it, but Tuesday was a turbulent day in our literary world. No fewer than three literature prizes were awarded. The Boon Literature Prize (Flemish prize for the best Dutch-language book), the Amarte Literature Prize (prize for a book that ‘transcends conventional boundaries’) and the Inktaap (‘the’ youth prize of Dutch literature). And then the people who won the Hans Vervoort Prize (for narrative prose ‘of a dejected yet uplifting nature’) also dropped by to announce who can collect their prize on April 22.
Apparently something is going well with literature, because these are not bad prizes. This is how Leo gets Pleysier for his depressing yet uplifting novel Chimes already 10 thousand euros. Julien Ignacio won 15 thousand euros with Golden jackal, in which he tells migrant stories from all over the world. ‘A book that you want to talk about further,’ said the jury of the Amarte Literature Prize, which was awarded for the first time this year.
The big hit was the Flemish Bean, which carries a check for 50,000 euros. Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer was the happy and probably relieved winner. Both the professional jury and the public jury were chosen Alkibiades to best book. Still won a significant prize after being mercilessly passed over in the Netherlands by the Boekenbon and Libris Literature Prize. “If I still lived in the Netherlands, I would move to Belgium,” sneered a triumphant Pfeijffer. Erna Sassen and Martijn van der Linden received the Boon for the best children’s and youth literature Never take a best friendElvis Peeters and Sebastiaan Van Doninck with Then take a look the audience award.
Anjet Daanje won with Song of stork and dromedary pretty much the only prize she didn’t have yet: the Ink Monkey. For this prize, young people (more than seven hundred this year) read all nominated titles of the BNG Bank Literature Prize, the Boekenbon Literature Prize and the Libris Literature Prize. The youth jury chose Daanje’s thick and complex book as the winner, while there were much more accessible books on the list. ‘This is the book that moved us the most.’ Daanje does not receive a sum of money, but she still wins the most valuable prize: hopeful proof that there are still young people who read literature and who also appreciate quality.
