Poet, writer and columnist Vrouwkje Tuinman will receive this year's C.C.S. Crone Prize. This adds her name to an honourable list of Utrecht authors who received this literature prize before her, including Manon Uphoff, Arthur Japin and Maxim Februari.
"The C.C.S. Crone Prize is a special appreciation for a talented writer," says culture councillor Eva Oosters. "Utrecht is known worldwide as a city of literature. This is partly thanks to authors like Vrouwkje Tuinman. I am proud of that. Tuinman is a very talented writer with an impressive body of work to her name." Oosters will present the award on 1 October during the International Literature Festival Utrecht. The C.C.S. Crone Prize comes with a cash prize of 10,000 euros. That day, the three C.C.S. Crone Stipendia will also be awarded.
Heavy and nimble at the same time
The expert jury, consisting of professor Marc van Oostendorp, literary entrepreneur Chafina Bendahman, and bookseller Tim van den Hoed, has words of praise for Tuinman: "Vrouwkje Tuinman's oeuvre is rich and varied: it consists of six books of poetry, four novels, a novella and several anthologies. Although she writes about 'heavy' themes like mourning and farewell, her oeuvre is at once light-footed, absurdistically funny and written with pace."
"The jury wishes to crown that exceptional work and, moreover, to express with the C.C.S. Crone Prize its gratitude for Tuinman's great commitment as an organiser and initiator of manifestations and events, with which she has greatly stimulated literary life in the city of Utrecht and in the Netherlands. In 2005, she was the recipient of the very first C.C.S. Crone Stipendium for her debut collection Vitrine. Now the jury thinks the time is ripe for Vrouwkje Tuinman's entire oeuvre to be crowned."
Stipends for three promising Utrecht authors
Besides the triennial prize, the municipality of Utrecht, in cooperation with the ILFU, annually awards three incentive grants to promising Utrecht authors. The grant of 3,000 euros is intended to make a subsequent publication possible.
Writer and radio producer Nikki Dekker, screenwriter, writer and podcast creator Daan Windhorst and founder of podcast platform Friend of the Show and frontman of punk band Tenement Kids Gijs Wilbrink receive this year's C.C.S. Cronestipendia.
The C.C.S. Crone Prize and Stipendia are named after the Utrecht prose writer C.C.S. Crone (1914 - 1951). Utrecht has a long literary history. The city is home to many writers and poets, including Arthur Japin, Ronald Giphart, Esther Jansma, Ingmar Heytze and Marieke Lucas Rijneveld. Because of its long literary history with many talented writers, Utrecht was awarded the UNESCO title City of Literature in 2017. This makes Utrecht 1 of 43 cities in the world to hold this title.
From the jury report:
Nikki Dekker
"Nikki Dekker (b. 1989) is a writer and radio producer. In 2022, she published her debut Deep blue. The jury finds this an intriguing and courageous book in which Dekker manages to connect the underwater world to themes of gender and identity in an inimitable way. With this writing style and inventiveness, the jury has every confidence in her future projects."
Daan Windhorst
"Daan Windhorst (1990) is a screenwriter, writer and podcast creator. In 2016, his collection of Gifs, satirical and alienating stories about Dutch society. The jury finds that he writes incredibly witty, in an accurate style and is very curious about the novel he plans to write."
Gijs Wilbrink
"Gijs Wilbrink (1984) is founder of podcast platform Friend of the Show and frontman of punk band Tenement Kids. Now he is working on his debut novel. The jury is keen to support that ambition. Wilbrink writes very evocatively and sensorially, with scenes that read like you are watching a film. And on top of that, parts of his novel are also set in the Utrecht of the 1990s."
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