Maarten Asscher

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Maarten Asscher (* 1957 in Alkmaar ) is a Dutch writer.

Life

Asscher comes from a Jewish-English-Dutch family. After graduating from high school in Arnhem, he completed a legal education at the University of Leiden before starting a career as an author and publisher. In 1980 he got a job at the Amsterdam publishing house Meulenhoff , of which he later became director. In collaboration with the Dutch Translation Fund, he tried to translate Dutch writers. Thanks to his personal efforts, he helped writers such as Adriaan van Dis , Gerhard Durlacher , Lieve Joris and Rudy Kousbroek achieve breakthroughs outside the Netherlands and the translations of their work reached a large international audience. As a lawyer, he also made a name for himself as a copyright specialist. He wrote a number of books.

In addition to poetry, he published a novel ( The Hour and the Day 2005) and a non-fiction book about the Netherlands and its waters, H2Olland (2009). Several of his books were also published in German. He also worked as a translator of poetry (for example by John Milton , Thomas Gray , Paul Valéry and Frederic Prokosch ) and wrote columns in various newspapers.

From 1998 to 2003 Asscher was Director of the Arts in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Since 2004 he has been director of the Athenaeum Bookstore in Amsterdam, a well-known bookstore in the capital, which enjoys an excellent reputation at home and abroad. Asscher expanded the company with branches in the Rijksmuseum and at the University of Amsterdam. In addition to running the Athenaeum, he was also committed to the Dutch book in general. He was also chairman of the board of the Stichting Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlands Boek (CPNB).

In 2018 Asscher was appointed officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau for his cultural achievements .

Publications (selection)

  • Dodeneiland . Amsterdam: Contact, 1992.
  • Verbarium XXVI poems. Bert Bakker, Amsterdam 1994, ISBN 90-351-1337-3 .
  • De verstekeling . Amsterdam: JM Meulenhoff, 1999.
    • The Journey of David Melba . From the Dutch by Marlene Müller-Haas. Munich: Bertelsmann, 2001, ISBN 978-3-442-72619-6 .
  • Nachtvraat / print 1 . Atlas-Contact, 2002, ISBN 90-457-0071-9 .

German editions

  • The lighthouse keeper and other stories . Translation by Ekkehard Mann and Ilona Bonnema. Hildesheim: Claassen, 1993
  • Hour and day novel. From the Dutch by Marlene Müller-Haas . btb Verlag, 2006
  • Julia and the balcony . From the Dutch by Marlene Müller-Haas. Btb, 1999, ISBN 978-3-442-72300-3 .
  • H2Olland: How the Dutch conquered the sea . Luchterhand Literaturverlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-630-62169-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kemal Rijken: Koninklijke onderscheiding voor Maarten Asscher. JoNet, January 24, 2018, accessed April 28, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Asscher, Maarten
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch author and publisher
DATE OF BIRTH 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Alkmaar