appearances: jaap robben, sien volders, els snick and wout vermijs

a disturbing disappearance The grandiose novel Birk, with which Jaap Robben debuted, won prizes, was translated several times, is being made into a film and sold over 80,000 copies. His novels Zomervacht and Schemerleven fared just as well. In 2021 he published a beautifully illustrated smaller story, Zwijgmannen, about five Polish construction workers. In his new novel, De laatste namen van Łukasz, he returns to the world of a Polish migrant worker. When Łukasz stops letting hear from him, his daughter goes in search of him. She meets various people who have crossed his path and together they try to make Łukasz visible again. ragged apparitions In De havelozen, the new novel by Sien Volders, Marjan and Willem write letters to each other in an attempt to continue to touch each other despite their drifting lives and political ideas. Just like in Noord and Oogst, Sien Volders portrays very strong, complex and thoroughly human characters, in a story about connectedness and alienation. published elsewhere A greater connoisseur than Els Snick of Joseph Rothin's work in our language area cannot be found. She translated De Radetskymars and Job, his two greatest novels, several books with his journalistic work and is chairman of the Joseph Roth Genootschap. In October, Een hakenkruis in het knoopsgat is published, reports and observations by Joseph Roth about Germany in the years 1923-1933, compiled and translated by Els Snick. Tonight she comes to talk to us about the great Jewish-Austrian writer. a fascinating apparition Illustrator Wout Vermijs is inspired by the words of the writers and makes drawings of their stories. We can follow the drawing process live on a big screen while the authors read from and talk about their book. In this way Vermijs adds new layers to their sentences and a wordless impression of the books remains behind. the disappearance This is how we build up a pile of books during the evening with which you can briefly satisfy your reading hunger. At the end, that pile might disappear into your tote bag, because the Passa Porta Bookshop gives all books away to a spectator chosen at random. For the others, reading happiness is of course also simply for sale. about the authors Jaap Robben (1984) conquered bookstore, reader and reviewer with his novel debut Birk. It was awarded, among others, the Nederlandse Boekhandelsprijs. Zomervacht was nominated for the International Booker Prize and also garnered much praise outside the Dutch-language borders. Schemerleven (2022) was awarded the Confituur Boekhandelsprijs, among other things, and grew into a cherished novel for many. More than 60,000 copies have been sold. Robben's novels are being made into films and his work is now appearing in twenty languages. Sien Volders (1983) studied Art History and Anthropology. Her debut novel Noord (Hollands Diep, 2017) was praised by the press and nominated for several prizes, including the Bronzen Uil and the ANV Debutantenprijs. A successful German translation followed. In 2021 her second novel Oogst (Hollands Diep, 2020) was nominated for the Libris Literatuurprijs. Her youngest novel De havelozen will be published in October 2026 by publishing house Thomas Rap. Sien lives and works in Ghent. Els Snick (1966) is a literary translator, teacher of German at the Universiteit Gent and chairman of the Joseph Roth Genootschap. Van Joseph Roth (1892-1939) she translated several beautifully published collections of journalistic work and the novels Radetzkymarsch and Job. In 2025 she published the autobiographical book De feestzaal van mijn ouders, in which she searches for her roots in West Vlaamse Oostrozebeke. Wout Vermijs studied graphic design and made his own graphic novel as a graduation project. Since then he has been active as an illustrator and art teacher. He can also be seen on stage as the guitarist of the Brussels 'suave rock' band Jakomo, where he brings not only the musical but also the visual aspects of the band to life. about the hostess Jelle Van Riet (Bruges, 1971) is a freelance literary journalist. She writes in-depth interviews for De Standaard, frequently acts as hostess and is the head and heart of Rietepetite, a non-profit organization that sets up alluring projects with literature and poetry as potting soil. Jelle lives and works in an Italian mountain village.