Marieke Lucas Rijneveld

Writer and poet Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (He/him, born in Nieuwendijk in 1991) is regarded as one of the greatest talents in Dutch literature. Rijneveld grew up in a Reformed farming family in North Brabant and currently lives in Utrecht, the city that awarded him the C.C.S. Crone Scholarship in 2015. Also in 2015 he debuted with the poetry collection Kalfsvlies (Calf’s Caul) which has been reprinted multiple times and was awarded the C. Buddingh’ Prize for best poetry debut. Newspaper de Volkskrant subsequently named him literary talent of the year. Rijneveld has given impressive readings at many literary events such as Crossing Border, De Jonge Schrijversavond (Young Writers Night) and Nacht van de Poëzie (Night of Poetry), and his poems and stories have been published in numerous literary magazines, including Hollands Maandblad, vpro Gids and De Revisor.

De avond is ongemak (The Discomfort of Evening) was published in 2018 and became an instant success. It was awarded the Book of the Month Award at De Wereld Draait Door, the most prominent prime-time talk on Dutch television. Translation rights were sold into 39 countries and the book won the prestigious International Booker Prize 2020.

Fantoommerrie (Phantomare), his second collection of poetry, has been published in 2019 and was awarded the Ida Gerhardt poetry prize 2020. Translations of her collections of poetry have been published in Argentina, Italy and Germany (2022).

In 2020 Rijnevelds second novel was published, Mijn lieve gunsteling (My Heavenly Favourite), and got rave reviews. The translation rights have been sold to 14 counties so far. The book was shortlisted for the Libris Literature Prize and was awarded the F. Bordewijk Prize 2021 and the Boon prize 2022.

Rijneveld wrote separate work for Alexander, Tate Publications, Mountain Leopard Press and Inque Magazine. He participated (partly digitally) in festivals in Colombia (Hay Cartagena), Pakistan (Lahore Literature Festival), Indonesia (Jaktent Festival), Germany (Berlin Poetry Festival) and Italy (Rome, Più libri più liberi).

His poem “Everything Inhabitable”, on translating Amanda Gorman’s poetry, has been published in many foreign newspapers and magazines, among which The Guardian, Nyheter, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and El País.

In 2022 Marieke Lucas Rijneveld published his new collection of poetry, Komijnsplitsers (Cumin splitters), and an essay for the Dutch Book Week, Het warmtefort (A Shelter From The Cold).