Kristen Gehrman Wins Vondel Translation Prize 2024

The jury, consisting of David Doherty, Claire Lowdon and Susan Massotty, is full of praise for Gehrman’s remarkable achievement: ‘Running the gamut from broad comedy to brittle vulnerability, Gehrman instantly establishes a gutsy, assured voice that effortlessly matches the pace and punch of Lakmaker’s bold, highly idiosyncratic narrative of self-discovery. The humour is often ebullient but never strained: Gehrman delivers laugh-out-loud lines with crisp comic timing, yet hits the mark just as effectively when handling the novel’s darker undercurrents and raw, intimate moments, which she does with disarming directness and haunting clarity. In short, an extraordinary feat of balance, finesse and emotional range – one that Gehrman pulls off in style.’

Kristen Gehrman, originally from the US, and teaches writing and translation at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She has a Master’s Degree in Language Science and Communication from the University of Lausanne. She now lives in The Hague. Her earlier translations include The Melting by Lize Spit, The Boy Between Worlds: A Biography by Annejet van der Zijl and I Will Live by Lale Gül.

The runner-up is David McKay for We Slaves of Suriname (Polity), his translation of Anton de Kom’s Wij slaven van Suriname (Contact). In the words of the jury, ‘David McKay expertly captures every nuance of De Kom’s deeply personal and wide-ranging account in lucid and accessible prose that is as emotive and harrowing as the original, cementing the book’s status as essential reading for generations to come.’

Three other highly accomplished translators were shortlisted for the Vondel Translation Prize 2024: Michele Hutchison for My Heavenly Favourite by Lucas Rijneveld, Sam Garett for Falling Is Like Flying by Manon Uphoff and Emma Rault for We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets.

The Vondel Translation Prize is a triennial award given to the best English-language translation of a Dutch-language literary or cultural-historical work. Established in 1996 by the UK’s Society of Authors, the prize is sponsored by the Dutch Foundation for Literature. Three years ago it was awarded to David Doherty for Summer Brother by Jaap Robben. Doherty served on this year’s jury, alongside author and literary reviewer Claire Lowdon, who writes for the Times Literary Supplement, The Sunday Times and the Spectator, and literar translator Susan Massotty, whose numerous translations include Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl.