News

The German translation of Grensgangers (Grenzgänger, by Eva Schweikart) is nominated for the renowded German Book Award for Young People’s Literatur, The Buxtehuder Bulle. The winner is determined on June 18 2020, by a jury of eleven young readers and eleven adults. You can find the other nominees here.

On the Brussels Book Fair, Les Couleurs du Ghetto (the French translation of De kleuren van het getto) has been awarded the Prix Libbylit by the Belgian section of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young people). The book was translated by Maurice Lomré and published by the Swiss publisher La joie de Lire.

September 1, 2019 the Mexican publisher Ediciones SM, published the Spanish translation of Grensgangers. The book is titled Los límites de la línea and was translated by Maria Rosich Andreu. It will be available in Central- and South-American and US book shops and libraries.

On March 20, the German publishing house Urachhaus published Grenzgänger, the German translation of Grensgangers. The book was translated by Eva Schweikart. On the occasion of 30 years Fall of the Berlin Wall, I wrote an afterword about what the Berlin Wall means to me personally.

The Swiss publisher La Joie de Lire has bought the translation rights for De kleuren van het getto(The War within these Walls). In 2017 they already published La jeune fille et le soldat (Het meisje en de soldaat. The translator will be Maurice Lomré, who also translated La jeune fille et le soldat. The French edition of De kleuren van het getto is to be expected in 2019.

On the book fairs of Frankfurt and Bologna the international rights of Grensgangers (Crossing the line) are sold to the Mexican Publisher Grupo SM and to the German Publisher Urachhaus. The translations are to be expected in 2019!

Really looking forward to reading the words of Julian, Marthe and Sybille in their original language. And also looking forward to the first Spanish translation.

Het meisje en de soldaat (The Girl and  the Soldier) has been translated in French. The rights were sold to the Suisse publisher La joie de Lire.  The book is translated by Maurice Lomré. The cover design is different from the original and the German and Danish translation. But the title remained almost the same: La jeune fille et le soldat. (The young girl and the soldier)

The Aarhus39 selection was announced at the London Book Fair on March 15, 2017. Aarhus39 is a selection of the 39 best children’s and YA writers under 40 from across Europe. And I’m one of them (as the only Flemish author)

These writers will take part in an ambitious Hay Festival in the European Capital of Culture Aarhus (Denmark) in October 2017. We all wrote a short story that will be published in two (English and Danish) anthologies.

Visit the Aarhu39 website or read the press release for more information.

This year Flanders and the Netherlands are guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest and most important book fair in the world. Together they will present their culture and literature. Aline Sax is one of the authors present. She will present the German translation of ‘The Girl and the Soldier (Das Mädchen und der Soldat)  and read a brand new story in the Städel Museum.

Discover the complete programm or follow her on Facebook!

The International Youth Library in Munich has selected ‘Grensgangers’ (Crossing the Line) as White Raven 2016. Each year the IYL selects books that “inspire and provoke, set new trends, and are of the highest quality in terms of language, content and artistry”. This year 200 books were selected in 42 languages, from 60 countries (of which 2 books from Flanders). The White Ravens will be announced at the Frankfurter Buchmesse and exhibited at the Bologna Book Fair and other places around the world.

Between March 17 and March 20, 2016 the literary festival Leipzig Liest and the annual Book Fair were held in Leipzig (Germany). Das Mädchen und der Soldat (The Girl and the Soldier) was presented to th German public with an interview with the author and the illustrator at the Fair, a lecture in Kinderbuchladen Serifee and ‘speed dating’ at the literary programm in the Schauspielhaus. In the Haus des Buches there was an exhibition of the illustrations from the book.

Pigen og Soldaten, that’s how Het meisje en de soldaat (The Girl and the soldier) sounds in Danish. The book was translated by Birthe Lundsgaard, who previously also translated Wij, twee jongens (We, two boys – Mellem to verdener) and De kleuren van het getto (The War Within these Walls – Ghettoens Farver). The book was published in September 2015 by Turbine Forlaget.

Het meisje en de soldaat (The Girl and the Soldier) has been translated into German. The book was published in February 2016 by the Berlin publisher Jakoby & Stuart. Das Mädchen und der Soldat was translated by Mirjam Pressler.The look and feel of the book was wonderfully preserved.

“Poetische Sprache, berührende Illustrationen und kongenial übersetzt.“

In February 2015 the Korean Publishing House Sanha published 신간] 게토의 색, the Korean translation of De Kleuren van het Getto (The War Within These Walls). The title is a literal translation of the Dutch title (The colors of the ghetto).

Caryl Strzelecki made a new cover illustration for this edition. Check it out below!

The rights are also sold to an Egyptian publisher who will publish the book in Arabic!

Download cover file below:

게토의 색 = 제2차 세계대전 중 바르샤바 게토(유대인강제거주지역)에서 있었던 실화를 바탕으로 한 아동용 소설.

1940년 11월부터 43년 5월까지 일어난 사건들을 허구적 인물인 미샤의 눈으로 재구성했다.

“독일군은 점점 악랄해졌다. 그들은 우리를 모조리 잡아 없애야 할 벌레처럼 여겼고, 정말 그렇게 다뤘다.”

벨기에 작가 알리네 삭스와 삽화가 카릴 스첼레츠키는 게토 안의 끔찍한 삶을 글과 그림으로 자세히 묘사한다.

Sanha Publishing

The International Youth Library in Munich has selected Het meisje en de soldaat (The Girl and the Soldier) as White Raven 2014. Each year the IYL selects books that “inspire and provoke, set new trends, and are of the highest quality in terms of language, content and artistry”. 200 titles from around the world were selected. The Girl and the Soldier was one of ten Dutch nominations. The White Ravens will be  exhibited at the Bologna Book Fair and other places around the world.

Schaduwleven, the sequel to Wij, twee jongens (We, two boys) has been translated into Danish by Birthe Lundsgaard. She also translated the first part of the serie. Doppeltspil (meaning ‘dubble game’) has been published by Turbine Forlaget

On March 4, Flanders House and Eerdmans Publishing co. organize a book presentation of the War Within These Walls in New York City.

Caryl Strzelecki and I will be talking about the book, reading and illustration. We hope to welcome you!

You can find the invitation here:

The War within These Walls has been named a 2014 Batchelder Honor Book by the American Library Association. The Mildred L. Batchelder Award is given annually to an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States.

This is the third Award for The War Within These Walls in two weeks time!

Watch the trailer of the book here.

Hardly one week after winning the National Jewis Book Award, The War Within These Walls has been selected as the silver medal honor winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the teen category!

Presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries, the Sydney Taylor Book Award recognizes outstanding literature for children and teens with Jewish content.

The War Within These Walls is the winner of the National Jewish Book Award in the category Children’s and Young Adult Literature! The Award Ceremony will be held on March 5, in New York. Visit the website of the Jewish Book Council to see all winners and finalists.

The War Within These Walls has been selected as one of the best books of 2013 by Kirkus Review and by Publishers Weekly. Hooray!

The International Youth Library in Munich has selected De kleuren van het getto (The colors of the getto) as White Raven 2013. Each year the IYL selects books that “inspire and provoke, set new trends, and are of the highest quality in terms of language, content and artistry”. Together with 11 other Dutch books De kleuren van het getto will be exhibited at the Bologna Book Fair.

In October 2013 De kleuren van het getto will be published in the USA by Eerdmans Books. The book was translated by Laura Watkinson as The War Within These Walls. Kirkus Review already called it ‘gripping, powerful, shattering‘. The extraordinary lay-out of the book has been wonderfully preserved.

Getthoens farver is the title of the recent translation of De kleuren van het getto (The colors of the getto), into Danish. The book was translated by Birthe Lundsgaard and published by Turbine Forlaget. In book shops all over Denmark, from February 2013!