Carys Davies writer in residence in Amsterdam
04 April 2025
Welsh writer Carys Davies will be staying at the Amsterdam Writers Residency from March 31st until April 28th, upon invitation by the Dutch Foundation for Literature.
Carys Davies' debut novel West (2018) was nominated for the Rathbones Folio Prize, longlisted for the European Literature Prize, awarded second place in the Society of Authors' McKitterick Prize, and won the Wales Book of the Year Award for Fiction. Her second novel, The Mission House (2020) was named Novel of the Year 2020 by The Sunday Times. Her third novel, Clear, was published in spring 2024 to critical acclaim, and was selected as one of the best books of the year by The Guardian, The New York Times, Vogue, and The Washington Post. The Dutch translation, Helder, translated by Nicolette Hoekmeijer, was published in October by publisher Meulenhoff
Davies is also the author of two short story collections, Some New Ambush (2007) and The Redemption of Galen Pike (2014), which won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. She has received the V.S. Pritchett Prize from the Royal Society of Literature, the Olive Cook Short Story Award from the Society of Authors, and a Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a member of the Folio Academy.
Born in Wales, Davies lived and worked in New York and Chicago for twelve years and currently resides in Edinburgh.
During her residency, she will be working on and researching her new historical novel, set at sea in the late nineteenth century. She looks forward to delving into records of commercial voyages of Dutch ships, particularly in the Southern Ocean. Water plays a central role in this novel, and according to Davies, it's hard to imagine a better place to be while dreaming about it. Visual art is also a major source of inspiration in her work, and she plans to make use of the city’s rich art collections.
More news
18 Dutch Authors at Turin International Book Fair
From May 15 till 19, the Netherlands will be Guest of Honour at the Turin International Book Fair. A delegation of 18 Dutch authors will travel to the book fair, which is the largest in Italy with over 200 thousand visitors.
First Dutch Authors Turin Book Fair Announced
The Netherlands will be Guest of Honour at the 37th edition of the Salone Internazionale del Libro Torino, the Turin International Book Fair. From May 15 to 19, the wealth of Dutch literature will be presented under the name Scoperta dell’Olanda (The discovery of the Netherlands).
In Memoriam: Mireille Berman
It was with great sadness and dismay that we learned of the death of our esteemed and beloved colleague Mireille Berman on March 3rd. For almost twenty years she worked with us through thick and thin, a dear friend, a dedicated supporter of writers and translators, a beloved presence with a great devotion to Dutch literature.
‘I admire how hard the Arabic publishing world works to get a book sold’
Last year Jaap Robben visited the Cairo Book Fair, the biggest book fair in the Arabic-speaking world, to promote his novel Summer Brother (Zomervacht). The trip was made possible by the Dutch Foundation for Literature’s Travel Costs scheme. What was it like for Jaap to meet his readers in Cairo? ‘It’s almost impossible to give an idea of the distances people travel to come to this book fair.’