Uitreiking Haagse Literatuurprijzen

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The Hague Literature Prizes 2024 were awarded to Tomas Lieske, Simone Atangana Bekono, Marieke De Maré and Anaïs Van Ertvelde. The Literatuurmuseum and Writers Unlimited organised the festive award ceremony on Saturday afternoon 25 January 2025. The ceremony was  moderated by Mirjam van Hengel.

The awards were presented by The Hague alderman Saskia Bruines. Each winner was honoured with a laudatio in the form of a musical or spoken performance by actor Gijs Scholten van Aschat, writer Manon Uphoff, poet Alfred Schaffer (on video), cello players Sebastiaan van Eck and Judith Jamin, and Flemish a capella formation Hella and others. The Young City Poet of The Hague 2024, Adelina Ignat, opened the award ceremony with recitation. Valérie Drost, director of the Literatuurmuseum/Kinderboekenmuseum, welcomed all attending.

The Constantijn Huygens Prize, the Hague Literature Prize for an oeuvre, was awarded to Tomas Lieske (pseudonym of Ton van Drunen, 1943). With this prize, the jury awarded his entire oeuvre, which consists of novels, stories, poems and essays in which language sparkles, curiosity flourishes and imagination is celebrated.

Simone Atangana Bekono (b. 1991) received the Jan Campert Prize 2024, the annual prize for poetry, for Marshmallow. According to the jury, one is left bewildered and charged after reading it. If you hold marshmallows over a flame just long enough, they are perfect: smoky on the outside, sweet on the inside, a tad dirty and irresistible for that very reason. The same goes for this collection of poems: it is an explosive mix of erotic imagery and linguistic tension that will stick in your head long after reading.

Marieke De Maré (b. 1985) was awarded the F. Bordewijk Prize, the annual prize for the best Dutch-language prose book, for Ik ga naar de schapen. The jury believes that with this poetic work, De Maré shows how literature can unite extremes. This novel speaks powerfully about people who are mainly silent, is both light-footed and heavy, and both painfully recognisable and utterly alienating. This book is a gem to cherish.

Anaïs Van Ertvelde (b. 1988) was awarded the J. Greshoff Prize, the biennial prize for a collection of essays, for Handicap: een bevrijding (Handicap: a liberation). It is a book that makes us look differently at what we thought we knew: disability. Not a limitation, but a liberation. Van Ertvelde not only introduces crip theory to our language area, she also revises the language we inherited to talk about bodies. And with that language, she changes our thinking. Handicap is an essay that the jury hopes everyone will have the chance to read.

A sum of €12,000,- was attached to the Constantijn Huygens Prize. The other prizes amount to €6,000,-. This year's jury consisted of: Jeroen Dera, Layla El-Dekmak, Rashif El Kaoui, Laurens Ham, Helma ven Lierop, Valérie Drost (chair), Mathijs Sanders, Jeannette Smit (secretary/treasurer) and Sarah Vankersschaever.

Bookstore De Vries van Stockum was present in the foyer with a stand where books by the award-winning authors and other festival participants, among others, were available for purchase!

Uitreiking Haagse Literatuurprijzen was curated by Jet Steinz on behalf of the Literatuurmuseum and Writers Unlimited. All information on the laureates can be found at literatuurmuseum.nl.

Information

Date and time Saturday 25 January 2025 from 15:30 to 17:00 hrs
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1
Price 10,- (up to 30 years / Ooievaarspas)
12,50 (DenHaagPas)
15,- (regular).

Line-up

Tomas Lieske

(The Netherlands, 1943) writes novels, short stories and poetry. He won the VSB Poetry Prize for Hoe je geliefde te herkennen and the Libris Literature Prize for his novel Franklin. Lieske studies Dutch language and literature at Leiden University. After a working period as a teacher and painter, he turned to writing from the age of 40. Some of his books, including the novel Alles kantelt, feature memories of his childhood in the part of the Hague district of Bezuidenhout destroyed by a 1945 bombing. Recent books are the novels Honderd hoge dagen (2020) and Het spettert geluk (2021), as well as Brandende kevers, a choice from his own poetry. He received the F. Bordewijk Prize for Niets dat hier hemelt (2023). In 2024 he publishes Wij van de Ripetta, a historical novel about Caravaggio, among others. He has been awarded with the Constantijn Huygens-prijs in 2024 for his body of works.
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Sebastiaan van Eck en Judith Jamin

have synchronised their biographies both privately and professionally from their first meeting in 1977; both studied with Johannes Goritzki at the Robert Schumann-Institut in Düsseldorf. They then took lessons with Dmitri Ferschtman at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam for two years. Both also had long orchestral jobs: Judith in the Netherlands Ballet Orchestra, Sebastiaan with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Besides their orchestral work, they have always played a lot of chamber music. Judith preferably with pianists, in duos and trios. With Klara Würtz and Tilly Keessen, she recorded two CDs of romantic repertoire. Sebastian as cellist of the Franciscus Quartet. They have also formed the Cello Quartet Amsterdam with cellist couple Gregor Horsch and Pascale Went since 1992. With these ensembles, they have played numerous concerts, made radio recordings and produced CDs.
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Gijs Scholten van Aschat

(The Netherlands, 1959) enjoys a great reputation for his stage, film and television roles. He received the Arlecchino for Midsummer Night's Dream, the Louis d'Or for his role in Decadence (Het Nationale Toneel), has been awarded the Johan Kaart Prize and was a recipient of the Albert van Dalsumring. He became very well known for his roles in the TV series Pleidooi and Oud geld, and received the Golden Calf for the feature films Cloaca and Tirza. Scholten van Aschat played with Het Nationale Toneel, Orkater, Het Toneel Speelt and ZT Hollandia, among others. IN 2010-2011 he joined the ITA  ensemble. Besides being an actor, Scholten van Aschat is also a writer. In 2012, his novella Beretta Bobcat was published and - together with director Chris Mitchell - he wrote the screenplay for the Dutch horror film De Poel.
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Mirjam van Hengel

(The Netherlands, 1967) is a writer and programme maker for ILFU, among others. In 2014, her book Hoe mooi alles. Leo en Tineke Vroman, een liefde in oorlogstijd (How beautiful everything is. Leo and Tineke Vroman, a love in wartime) was published, followed in 2018 by her biography of Remco Campert, Een knipperend ogenblik (A fleeting moment), which was awarded the Henriëtte de Beaufort Prize. Dola, about writer and dancer Dola de Jong, was published in 2022. Van Hengel was an editor at Uitgeverij Van Oorschot and Uitgeverij Querido for many years. She has edited numerous collected works and poetry anthologies and writes for De Volkskrant, among others. Her most personal book, Ganzentijd (Goose Time), about her father and herself as his daughter, was recently published.

Go to the website of Mirjam van Hengel
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Simone Atangana Bekono

(The Netherlands, 1991) is a writer of prose and poetry. She has written columns and essays for various newspapers and magazines and is an editor at the literary magazine De Revisor. In 2016, she graduated from the Creative Writing program at ArtEZ with a collection of poems and letters titled Hoe de eerste vonken zichtbaar waren (How the first sparks became visible). In 2018, the collection was awarded the Poëziedebuutprijs Aan Zee. Her debut novel Confrontaties (Confrontations) was highly praised and won the Hebban Debut Prize, the Anton Wachter Prize, and the Best Book for Young Adults Award. In 2022, Simone wrote the novella Zo hoog de zon stond for the Brabants Book Present. In 2024, her second poetry collection Marshmallow was awarded with the Jan Campert-prijs.
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Anaïs Van Ertvelde

(Belgium, 1988) teaches at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. She has published columns and opinion pieces in De Morgen, De Standaard, Knack, NRC and de Volkskrant. In 2017, she made her debut with Vuile lakens. Een hedendaagse visie op seksualiteit (Dirty Sheets. A contemporary vision of sexuality). In Zorgangst (Care Fear, 2022), Anaïs tells six stories about old age, disability and bdsm in which she explores our fears - justified or not - of care, dependence and helplessness. After years of researching gender and sexuality, she shifted her focus to disability. For Handicap: een bevrijding (Handicap: a liberation), she receives the J. Greshoff Prize 2024, The Hague's biennial prize for an essay or collection of essays. The jury: ‘It is a book that makes us look at disability differently. Van Ertvelde introduces crip theory to our language area and she revises the language we inherited to talk about bodies. And with that language, she changes our thinking.'
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Marieke De Maré

(Belgié, 1985) writers, performes and is a theatre director. Her debut novel Bult (2020) is set on a hill where a young woman, an old woman and a tall, slender man live. Everything they (don't) do is very often about death. Bult is a wistful, sometimes funny and detached story that expresses a desire to come to terms with something. Ik ga naar de schapen (I go to the sheep, 2024), her second novel, is a story about silence, watching, holding on and letting go. De Maré was awarded the F. Bordewijk Prize 2024, the annual prize of the City of The Hague for the best Dutch-language prose book, for Ik ga naar de schapen. ‘A gem to cherish,’ said the jury. ‘This novel speaks powerfully about people who are mainly silent, is both light-footed and heavy, and both painfully recognisable and utterly alienating.’ De awards ceremony takes place during the Writers Unlimited Festival.
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Adelina Ignat

(Romania, 2009) is the Haagse Jonge Stadsdichter (The Hague Young City Poet) of 2024. Her winning poem Bubble was the deciding factor during the finals. Adelina grew up in a house full of books and poetry, and loves to read. She also plays the piano: this musicality can be heard in her poetry. The final of the Jonge Stadsdichter schools competition, an initiative of the City of The Hague, Bibliotheek Den Hag, Huis van Gedichten and the Literatuurmuseum/Kinderboekenmuseum, took place during National Poetry Day in the Central Library. Adelina received guidance in writing and recitation from poet Diann van Faassen and performed at various events.
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Manon Uphoff

(The Netherlands, 1962) is a Dutch writer, screenwriter and visual artist. She made her debut in 1995 with the collection of short stories Begeerte (Desire), which was nominated for the AKO Literature Prize, the Anton Wachter Prize and the ECI Prize. The title story was awarded the Rabobank Spring Prize for Literature. Her first novel Gemis (1997) was nominated for the Libris Literature Prize. Her most recent book, Vallen is als vliegen (Falling is Like Flying, 2019), was shortlisted for both the 2019 Bookspot Literature Prize and the 2020 Libris Literature Prize. The novel was named the best Dutch-language novel of 2019 by NRC Handelsblad and Humo. Uphoff was editor of the literary magazine De Revisor and board member and president of PEN Netherlands. As a screenwriter, she wrote the feature film screenplay Een Groot Geweld (Topkapi Films).
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Hella

is a young a cappella band from Belgium. Four female voices blending together in warm, bright and colorful harmonies. Their music is dedicated to retelling old stories and melodies in Dutch. Interweaving traditional music with contemporary, they produce a sound that shows the richness and beauty of the voice. In January 2024, Hella was honored with the Flanders Folk Award as most promising band, recognizing their potential and unique sound. “Hella, that's four powerful female voices that harmoniously meander into one almost mystical entity. Without the support of any instruments, the four singers manage to produce a full sound that creates an entirely new world.” — Jury Flanders Folk Awards 2024
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Valérie Drost

is director-director of the Literatuurmuseum/Kinderboekenmuseum, chairman of the Jan Campert Foundation and secretary of the P.C. Hooft Prize for Literature Foundation. The Literatuurmuseum/Kinderboekenmuseum, where Drost has been director since 2024, is a vibrant family museum that attracts 150,000 visitors annually. Besides family museum, it is also the place where national literary heritage from 1750 to the present is kept and preserved. The (national) museum makes its archives available for research and also, thanks to the online museum LiteratuurLab, new generations are introduced to our literary past.
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Alfred Schaffer

(Leidschendam, 1973) is a poet, translator and lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He made his debut in 2000 with the poetry collection Zijn opkomst in de voorstad (His Rise in the Suburb). Over the years, his poetry collections were often awarded or nominated for several important prizes, and translations appeared in English, Afrikaans, French, Chinese, Indonesian, Swedish and other languages. For the collection Kooi he received the Jan Campert Prize and the Ida Gerhardt Poetry Prize in 2008. His work is sometimes humorous, sometimes matter-of-fact and at the same time full of absurd inventions. In 2014, he published his, again critically acclaimed collection Mens Dier Ding. In 2021, he published the personal collection Wie was ik?, for which he received the Herman De Coninck Prize. That same year, Alfred Schaffer was awarded the P.C. Hooft Prize, the largest annual oeuvre prize in Dutch literature.
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