Over elkaar leren kennen wanneer je geen taal deelt Via via kreeg ik het Poolse telefoonnummer van Iwan. Ons eerste gesprek was nogal bondig. ‘Ja?’ zei de stem die opnam. ‘Sie sprechen mit Jaap Robben.’ Het bleef stil. Ik vertelde over onze oude kersenbomen die gesnoeid moesten worden. ‘Gut,’ bromde de stem. ‘Samstag. Vier Uhr.’ Ik moest ons adres whatsappen. ‘Bis Samstag,’ zei ik nog, maar er was al opgehangen. Het werd zaterdag, onze bel ging om exact vier uur.
Author
Jaap Robben (1984) is a poet, playwright, performer, and acclaimed children’s author. 'You Have Me to Love' (Birk), his first novel for adults, has received international glowing reviews and is the winner of the 2014 Dutch Booksellers Award, the Dioraphte Prize, and the ANV Award for best Dutch debut. To date, the novel has sold over 50,000 copies in the Netherlands and is available in ten languages. 'You Have Me to Love' is currently being adapted into an English-language film. Robben was chosen as one of the featured debut authors at the 2018 Brooklyn Book Festival. His second novel 'Summer Brother' (Zomervacht), also a bestseller in The Netherlands, will be published in English in February 2021.
