Debut Dutch Novel Wins International Booker Prize

Aug 26, 2020

The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, translated from the Dutch by Michele Hutchison, won the 2020 International Booker Prize. The prize is valued at £50,000 ($66,000), with money divided equally between the author and the translator.

Rijneveld, 29, is the youngest author to ever receive the prize. They are also the first Dutch author to be nominated for the International Booker Prize. The book depicts the life of a religious ten-year old girl living on a dairy farm as she grieves the accidental death of her brother in a skating accident—grief that takes her down a dark path. The book, a bestseller when it was first published in 2018, has been controversial for graphic scenes of animal abuses and youthful sexuality.

Graywolf published the book in the U.S. on August 18.