Elke Geurts (b. 1973, the Netherlands) is a novelist and short-story writer. Her 2008 debut, a collection of short stories called Het besluit van Dola Korstjens (Dola Kortstjens’ Decision) was nominated for several literary prizes and praised for its disquieting humor. Read More In 2010 Geurts published her second collection, of longer short stories, called Lastmens (Burdensome), which was extremely well-received by critics and nominated for the BNG New Literature Prize. Reviewer Arjan Peters wrote of Lastmens: “Elke Geurts gives us plenty to laugh about, but there’s no reason to feel relieved. Real life keeps slipping our grasp. If only it were true that these stories could be described as absurd. We can’t get away that easily. This is far worse.” In 2013 Geurts published her first novel, De weg naar zee (The Road to the Sea), a short, tightly structured book in which a hyper-perfectionist protagonist rushes to meet her doom.