Our Story
The Dutch Foundation For Literature (known as Nederlands Letterenfonds in the Netherlands) has the task of supporting writers and translators and of promoting Dutch literature abroad. It invests in the quality and diversity of literature through grants for writers, translators, publishers, literary magazines and festivals in the Netherlands, and contributes to the production and distribution of Dutch and Frisian literature at home and abroad. With the support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, it aims to promote a thriving literary climate, embedded in literary history and attuned to the latest developments in the publishing industry.
In the past two decades, Dutch literature and the Dutch book have featured as the focal theme of organized literary events at many international bookfairs, such as those in Frankfurt (1993), Barcelona (1995), Gothenburg (1997), London (1999), Tokyo (2000), Turin (2001), Paris (2003), Beijing (2011), Buenos Aires (2013), Budapest (2014), Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (2015) and Germany, where the Netherlands and Flanders were Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2016. ‘This Is What We Share’ prompted a storm of interest in literature of all genres from the Netherlands and Flanders. The numbers speak volumes. In the run-up to the 2016 Book Fair more than 314 new German literary translations were published, more than 1,000 events and readings took place, with the participation of around 200 Dutch and Flemish authors, and more than 7,000 articles appeared in the German media, online alone. In 2017-2018 a follow-up to the ‘This is What We Share’-campaign brings Dutch and Flemish literature on stage in Berlin, Leipzig, Munich and, this fall, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe.
Current campaign abroad: Les Phares du Nord
In 2018 over 100 Dutch and Flemish authors will present themselves at more than twenty literary festivals throughout France. All this in the context of Les Phares du Nord (The Lighthouses of the North), an intensive campaign aimed at presenting Dutch literature in France, the second largest book market of Europe and the fifth worldwide. More information and the calender of festivals involved on lespharesdunord.nl/ (French) and our website letterenfonds.nl/en (English and Dutch).
