Gerbrand Bakker

Gerbrand Bakker (born 28 April 1962) is a Dutch writer. He won the International Dublin Literary Award for The Twin, the English translation of his novel Boven is het stil, and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for The Detour, the English translation of his novel De omweg. Both novels were translated by co-winner David Colmer.

Biography Bakker is a gardener by trade, having acquired his gardening license in 2006. Among his favourite books are The Sea, the Sea, The Beautiful Room Is Empty, Winnie-the-Pooh and The Wind in the Willows. He dislikes flying.

Works Available in English translation by Bakker are Boven is het stil and De omweg. Among Bakker's other works are a children's dictionary and Pear Trees Bloom White, a young adult novel.

The Twin

In 2002 Bakker was hiking through mountains whilst on holiday in Corsica when he first thought up The Twin. The Twin defeated 155 titles from more than 40 countries. The judges said his writing was "wonderful: restrained and clear" and that Bakker "excels at dialogue". The Twin has also received praise from J. M. Coetzee. Bakker spoke of the need "to lie down for a while" when he was announced as the winner and said "It's wonderful". It won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (2013).

According to Bakker, The Detour came from a "hugely depressed" time in his life. "I write instinctively. Something wants to come out. Only now do I see that this book is terribly much about myself. I write from the back of my mind. I don't see what I'm doing."

June June is Bakker's second adult novel, published in Dutch in 2009. It was translated by David Colmer and published in English in 2015.