Yael van der Wouden

Yael van der Wouden (born 1987) is a Dutch writer. Her first novel, The Safekeep, was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.

Early life and education

Yael Van der Wouden was born in 1987{{cite web |title=Yael van der Wouden |url=https://allesausserflach.de/autor:in/yael-van-der-wouden/ |access-date=6 February 2025 |website=allesausserflach.de |language=de}} in Tel Aviv, Israel, to an Israeli mother and a Dutch father, and grew up in the Netherlands.{{Cite web |author=ToI Staff |last2=AFP |title=Dutch-Israeli author Yael van der Wouden shortlisted for Booker Prize |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/dutch-israeli-author-yael-van-der-wouden-shortlisted-for-booker-prize/ |url-access=limited |access-date=6 February 2025 |work=The Times of Israel |language=en}} She started ballet classes at the age of three, and competed in her school's talent show aged ten, with a dance interpreting a flame.{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Benjamin |date=12 December 2018 |title=Writer of the Week: Yael van der Wouden |url=https://maudlinhouse.net/writer-of-the-week-33/ |access-date=6 February 2025 |website=Maudlin House}}

She studied comparative literature at Utrecht University and SUNY Binghamton.{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://yaelvanderwouden.com/about |access-date=6 February 2025 |website=Yael van der Wouden}} She has described herself as a "Dutch-Israeli mixed-bag-diaspora child".

Writing career

Van der Wouden's essay "On (Not) Reading Anne Frank" was published in The Best American Essays in 2018, and received a "notable mention".{{Cite web |title=Yael van der Wouden |url=https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/authors/yael-van-der-wouden |access-date=23 September 2024 |publisher=The Booker Prizes}}{{cite web |last1=Egherman |first1=Tori |date=16 September 2022 |title=Reading On (Not) Reading Anne Frank |url=https://joodsmanifest.nl/en/reading-on-not-reading-anne-frank-2/ |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=Het Joods Manifest :: The Jewish Manifesto}} It "explored the ways in which that totemic, sentimentalised figure threatened to leave little space for [Van der Wouden's] own explorations of her Dutch-Jewish identity".{{cite news |last1=Moshenska |first1=Joe |date=16 June 2024 |title=The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden review – secrets and sex in postwar Europe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jun/16/the-safekeep-by-yael-van-der-wouden-review-secrets-and-sex-in-postwar-europe |access-date=24 September 2024 |work=The Observer}}

Her first novel, The Safekeep (2024) was the subject of bidding wars between nine publishers for the United Kingdom edition and ten for the United States.{{cite news |last1=North |first1=Nic |date=19 January 2023 |title=Debut author's post-Holocaust novel sparks nine-way bidding war |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/debut-authors-post-holocaust-novel-sparks-nine-way-bidding-war-omn437a3 |access-date=23 September 2024 |work=The Jewish Chronicle |language=en}} It is the story of Isabel, who lives in her late parents' house 15 years after the end of World War II, and her brother's partner Eva who comes to stay for the summer: "What happens between the two women leads to a revelation which threatens to unravel all she has ever known."{{cite web |date=30 May 2024 |title=The Safekeep |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/457728/the-safekeep-by-wouden-yael-van-der/9780241652305 |access-date=24 September 2024 |website=Penguin |language=en}} The Observer{{'s}} reviewer says that the author "weaves this story of historical reckoning (or its avoidance) with an account of Isabel's individual and sexual awakening," The Guardian{{'s}} reviewer called it "An impressive debut" and said "The book's powerful final act provides an already weighty emotional situation with an extra layer of historical heft",{{cite news |last1=Seiffert |first1=Rachel |date=25 May 2024 |title=The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden review – the Dutch house |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/25/the-safekeep-by-yael-van-der-wouden-review-the-dutch-house |access-date=24 September 2024 |work=The Guardian}} and The New York Times{{'s}} reviewer described it as "An Erotic Story of Love and Obsession in 1960s Amsterdam".{{cite news |date=25 May 2024 |title=Book Review: 'The Safekeep,' by Yael van der Wouden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/25/books/review/safekeep-yael-van-der-wouden.html |access-date=24 September 2024}}

Other activities

Van der Wouden has taught creative writing, storytelling, and literature.

Awards and nominations

The Safekeep was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.{{cite web |title=The Safekeep |url=https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-safekeep |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=The Booker Prizes |publisher=}} It was the first shortlisted title by a Dutch author and the only debut novel on the 2024 shortlist.{{cite news |last1=Creamer |first1=Ella |date=16 September 2024 |title=Percival Everett and Rachel Kushner make the 2024 Booker prize shortlist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/16/percival-everett-and-rachel-kushner-make-the-2024-booker-prize-shortlist |access-date=23 September 2024 |work=The Guardian}}

class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Award !Category !Result !Ref.
2024 \|Booker Prize \|—\|\| {{sho}} \|
rowspan="6" \|2025 \|Aspen Words Literary Prize \|—\|\| {{Pending\|Pending{{sup\|Shortlist}}}} \|{{Cite web \|title=Literary Prize \|url=https://www.aspenwords.org/literary-prize/ \|access-date=2025-04-01 \|website=Aspen Words \|language=en-US}}
Dylan Thomas Prize \|—	{{Pending\|Pending{{sup\|Shortlist}}}} \|
Sophie Brody Award \|—	{{Shortlisted}} \|{{Cite web \|date=2025-01-26 \|title=József Debreczeni named Winner of 2025 Sophie Brody Medal \|url=https://rusaupdate.org/2025/01/jozsef-debreczeni-named-winner-of-2025-sophie-brody-medal/#:~:text=This%20year's%20winner%20is%20J%C3%B3zsef,Group,%20translated%20by%20Paul%20Olchv%C3%A1ry. \|access-date=2025-04-01 \|website=RUSA Update \|language=en-US}}
Walter Scott Prize \|—	{{Pending\|Pending{{sup\|Shortlist}}}} \|{{Cite web \|last=Salt \|first=Rebecca \|date=2025-04-15 \|title=2025 Shortlist announced from Abbotsford - \|url=https://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/2025-shortlist-announced-from-abbotsford/ \|access-date=2025-04-20 \|website=The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction \|language=en-US}}
Wingate Literary Prize \|— \|{{nom\|Longlisted}} \|{{Cite web \|title=Longlist announced for the 2025 Wingate Prize – Wingate Foundation \|url=https://wingate.org.uk/literary-prize/longlist-announced-for-the-2025-wingate-prize/ \|access-date=2025-04-20 \|language=en-GB}}
Women's Prize for Fiction \|—	{{Pending\|Pending{{sup\|Longlist}}}} \|{{Cite web \|title=Women’s Prize For Fiction \|url=https://www.womensprize.com/prizes/womens-prize-for-fiction/ \|access-date=2025-04-01 \|website=Women's Prize \|language=en-US}}

class="wikitable sortable"

!Year

!Award

!Category

!Result

!Ref.

2024

|Booker Prize

|—|| {{sho}}

rowspan="6" |2025

|Aspen Words Literary Prize

|—|| {{Pending|Pending{{sup|Shortlist}}}}

|{{Cite web |title=Literary Prize |url=https://www.aspenwords.org/literary-prize/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Aspen Words |language=en-US}}

Dylan Thomas Prize

|—

{{Pending|Pending{{sup|Shortlist}}}}

Sophie Brody Award

|—

|{{Cite web |date=2025-01-26 |title=József Debreczeni named Winner of 2025 Sophie Brody Medal |url=https://rusaupdate.org/2025/01/jozsef-debreczeni-named-winner-of-2025-sophie-brody-medal/#:~:text=This%20year's%20winner%20is%20J%C3%B3zsef,Group,%20translated%20by%20Paul%20Olchv%C3%A1ry. |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=RUSA Update |language=en-US}}

Walter Scott Prize

|—

{{Pending|Pending{{sup|Shortlist}}}}

|{{Cite web |last=Salt |first=Rebecca |date=2025-04-15 |title=2025 Shortlist announced from Abbotsford - |url=https://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/2025-shortlist-announced-from-abbotsford/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction |language=en-US}}

Wingate Literary Prize

|—

|{{nom|Longlisted}}

|{{Cite web |title=Longlist announced for the 2025 Wingate Prize – Wingate Foundation |url=https://wingate.org.uk/literary-prize/longlist-announced-for-the-2025-wingate-prize/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |language=en-GB}}

Women's Prize for Fiction

|—

{{Pending|Pending{{sup|Longlist}}}}

|{{Cite web |title=Women’s Prize For Fiction |url=https://www.womensprize.com/prizes/womens-prize-for-fiction/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Women's Prize |language=en-US}}

Selected publications

{{cite book |last1=Wouden |first1=Yael van der |title=The Safekeep |date= |publisher=Viking Press |year=2024 |isbn=9780241652305 |edition=hardcover 1st |location=London}}

References

External links

{{official website|https://yaelvanderwouden.com}}
[https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/yael-van-der-wouden-interview-the-safekeep Interview, 2024] on The Booker Prize website

Category:1987 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century Dutch writers

Category:21st-century Dutch women writers

Category:Dutch people of Israeli descent

Category:Binghamton University alumni

Category:Utrecht University alumni