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Suriname

A black-and-white photo of a small wooden railway station with large trees in the background. A...

Lelydorp Station, 1947. Willem van de Poll, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Birthday Present

In this excerpt from Bea Vianen’s novel My Name is Sita, a Surinamese woman who is investigating her family history faces an unpleasant encounter with a figure from her mother’s past.

Translated from Dutch by Kristen Gehrman

Black-and-white image of a Surinamese party in the Netherlands

Rob Mieremet / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jaguar Man

By Raoul de Jong

In this excerpt from the memoir Jaguarman, Dutch writer Raoul de Jong explores the colonization of Suriname, the immigrant experience in the Netherlands, racism, and the lionization of major Black American figures such as James Baldwin and Malcolm X…

Translated from Dutch by Jake Goldwasser

Multilingual

The covers of the books featured in the Watchlist in a 2x6 grid: Chronicles of a Village, The Mystery...

The Watchlist: April 2024

By Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll ranges far and wide in this month’s Watchlist, recommending a memoir by Palestinian writer Nasser Abu Srour, Astrid Roemer’s novel of mid-century Suriname, newly translated essays by Dubravka Ugrešic, and more.

“Arnold . . . !”

By Astrid Roemer

She’s wondering how to tell his children when an immense silence numbs her.

Translated from Dutch by Laura Vroomen

Shreds

I come from Spite and Remorse.

Translated from Dutch by David Colmer

[Nowhere has denying]

By Hans Faverey

God, what a down-at-heel hope / for a voiceless evaporation

Translated from Dutch by Francis R. Jones

[Yesterday, yes, I still existed here]

By Hans Faverey

Go on, admit it: / yesterday you also existed here,

Translated from Dutch by Francis R. Jones

[With one hand in my lap]

By Hans Faverey

It is one moonless evening.

Translated from Dutch by Francis R. Jones

[Since nobody was there anyway]

By Hans Faverey

it's time for a walk once again / along the brink of the beach, where all / of a sudden the woods held back

Translated from Dutch by Francis R. Jones

[One fine day it was night]

By Hans Faverey

It was too late / to unbait my hook.

Translated from Dutch by Francis R. Jones

[If later, or sooner, it is]

I might as well go to sea: /to let oneself be blown away.

Translated from Dutch by Francis R. Jones

[“Then they went away too”]

By Hans Faverey

Hardly had I known them. / I also hardly stayed behind.

Translated from Dutch by Francis R. Jones

[As simple as a drop of water]

By Hans Faverey

As simple as a drop of water, / as clear as a splinter of birch,

Translated from Dutch by Francis R. Jones