Annelies Verbeke (b. 1976, Belgium) became famous overnight with her successful first novel Slaap! (Sleep!, 2003). Her second novel, Reus (Giant, 2006), and her collection of short stories Groener gras (Greener Grass, 2007) attracted widespread attention with their surprising realism and light yet bizarre and absurd humor. Read More Her most recent novel, Vissen redden (Saving Fish, 2009), was nominated for several literary awards. Verbeke also writes columns, film scripts, and plays, and has a great love of short stories. Her short-story collection Veronderstellingen (Assumptions, 2012) was extremely well-received and was nominated for the BNG New Literature Prize. It is made up of fifteen stories linked by both subject and characters, about people who think they know more than they really do. In 2012, together with Sanneke van Hassel, she put together a substantial anthology of international stories called Naar de stad (To the City, 2012), and in 2013, in cooperation with artist Klaas Verplancke, she published the novella Tirol inferno, written in iambic pentameter.