Nooteboom among 10 best travel writers of the century (Newsweek)
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In the latest issue of Newsweek Cees Nooteboom is listed as one of the ten best travel writers of the century. Other featured authors are V.S. Naipaul, Paul Theroux, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Colin Thubron and others. Roads to Santiago is regarded to be his best book to date and the magazine says: ‘Better known as a novelist than a travel writer in his native Holland, Nooteboom is the ultimate stylist of the genre. Highly introspective and self-conscious, witty and whimsical, he observes people and places, and his reactions to them, with an originality that is totally arresting – and all without sounding remotely precious (…) Sparkling sentences abound in his works.’
VPRO Bob den Uyl Prize for Cees Nooteboom
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Cees Nooteboom has been awarded the VPRO Bob den Uyl Prize for best travel book of the year. The eighth edition of the prize was presented to the author at the Amsterdam bookstore Pied à Terre. The award consists of 7500 euro and is eligible for new Dutch-language travel books and nonfiction. There were 50 entries this year. About Scheepsjournaal the jury says: ‘Weathered, contemplative and concise prose of the nestor of the genre.’ Mr Farah Karimi, director of Oxfam Novib, was the chairman of the jury, which also consisted of writer Natasja van den Berg, HIVOS consultant Erik Nijland and Bob den Uyl biographer Nico Keuning.
Nooteboom’s debut novel, Philip en de anderen (Philip and the Others), came out in 1955. He was twenty-two years old at the time. Where did the inspiration come from? READ MORE
Nooteboom has written about the phenomenon many times, about why it is that he always wants to pack his suitcases again. READ MORE
Cees Nooteboom is known primarily for his novels and his travel books. As far as he is concerned, however, poetry comes first. READ MORE
Many of Nooteboom’s essays deal with art, particularly those branches with a visual focus: painting, architecture, film and photography. READ MORE