Loes den Hollander (Nijmegen, 1948) began writing prose and poetry at the age of eight, and in 2001 she won a short-story contest, which motivated her to write twenty-four thrillers, three collections of stories, a commercial novel, and three novellas.
Sam Garrett (Harrisburg, 1956) has translated almost forty novels and works of nonfiction from Dutch to English, has been short-listed for some of the world’s most prestigious literary awards, and is the only translator to have twice won the British Society of Authors’ Vondel Prize (in 2003 and 2009). His translation of Herman Koch’s The Dinner was a best seller in the US, UK, and Canada.
Murat Isik (Izmir, 1977) debuted in 2012 with Verloren Grond, for which he received the Bronze Owl for best Dutch-language first novel and was nominated for the Academica Literature Award. The book has been reprinted multiple times, and has been translated into German, Swedish, and Turkish. Wees Onzichtbaar, his second book, was published in 2017, and was selected as the NRC Book of the Year and nominated for the BNG Literature Award and the Halewijn Award.
Herman Koch (Arnhem, 1953) is the author of, among others, Het Diner (The Dinner), Zomerhuis met Zwembad (Summer House with Swimming Pool), Geachte Heer M. (Dear Mr. M), and De Greppel (The Ditch). Het Diner, an international best seller, was translated into more than forty languages and was filmed in the US, The Netherlands, and Italy.
Christine Otten (Deventer, 1961) writes both fiction and nonfiction. Her novel De Laatste Dichters (2004), based on the lives of the legendary African American group the Last Poets, was nominated for the Libris Literature Prize and was published in English as The Last Poets (2016). Her latest novel, We Hadden Liefde, We Hadden Wapens (2016), was enthusiastically reviewed and has been adapted for the stage. Otten leads creative-writing workshops in Dutch prisons. She lives in Amsterdam.
Josh Pachter (New York, 1951) is an American writer, editor, and translator. His own short crime stories have been featured in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and many other periodicals and anthologies since the late 1960s, and his translations of crime fiction by Dutch and Belgian authors appear regularly in EQMM. He lived in Amsterdam from 1979 to 1982 and returns often, although he now makes his home in Northern Virginia.
Anneloes Timmerije (Amsterdam, 1955) has written several nonfiction books, beginning in 1992. Her first novel, Zwartzuur (2005), won the Women & Culture Debut Prize in 2006, and was followed by De Grote Joseph (2010), the short-story collection Slaapwandelen bij Daglicht (2013), and, in collaboration with Charles den Tex, the historical novel Het Vergeten Verhaal van een Onwankelbare Liefde in Oorlogstijd (2014), which was published in English as Finding Her.
Walter van den Berg (Amstelveen, 1970) spent almost forty years in Osdorp, the Amsterdam neighborhood in which he set his contribution to Amsterdam Noir, but he now lives in a village by a river with his wife and dog. He has published four novels: De Hondenkoning (2004), West (2007), Van Dode Mannen Win Je Niet (2013), and Schuld (2016), which was nominated for the Libris Literature Prize.
Mensje van Keulen (Den Haag, 1946) lives in Amsterdam. She writes novels and short stories and has published several award-winning children’s books. Her first novel was Bleekers Zomer (1972), and her most recent was Schoppenvrouw (2016). Her books frequently appear on the long and short lists for literary awards, and her body of work has been honored with the Annie Romein, Charlotte Köhler, and Constantijn Huygens prizes.
Max van Olden (Zevenaar, 1973) debuted in 2015 with Lieve Edelachtbare, a legal thriller about a young lawyer in training that won the Shadow Prize for the best Dutch-language debut crime novel of the year. His second book, De Juiste Man (2017), a psychological thriller that explores the subject of revenge, made the long list for the Golden Noose. Van Olden is himself an attorney with a civil practice.