Lieke Marsman

(The Netherlands, 1990) was awarded the Constantijn Huygens Prize 2025 for her oeuvre. According to the jury, that oeuvre is ‘leading within contemporary Dutch literature. She dares to experiment with form and knows how to appeal to a large, often young audience’. Marsman made her debut in 2010 with the poetry collection Wat ik mijzelf graag voorhoud (What I like to tell myself), which won several awards. Her first novel, Het tegenovergestelde van een mens (The opposite of a human being), was published in 2017. In it, she interweaves prose with poetry and essays to highlight the theme of climate change. In De volgende scan duurt vijf minuten (The next scan will take five minutes, 2018), she explores how a sick body relates to a sick world. Mijn mand (My basket, 2021) tackles major themes: the value of life and the place of death in a human life. In 2025, Op een andere planeet kunnen ze me redden (On another planet they can save me) was published. Living with death changed Marsman's worldview. The book is a philosophical journey into the depths of the human mind, interspersed with diary excerpts describing how death is hot on her heels.

Instagram: @liekemarsman