Rethinking Europe: Great European Novel

‘Great European Novel est un très beau livre, modeste et ambitieux, souriant et grave, qui mérite d’être traduit dans tous les pays qu’il évoque.’
(Jacques de Decker dans Le Soir)

‘A revelation. Reading a story like this one makes you happy.’
(Alessandro Piperno in Corriere Della Serra)

'An ambitious and delicate novel: Europe as a precious mistake.'
(Arjan Peeters in de Volkskrant.)

When it comes to Europe, most people nowadays are wary of pleading for a stronger union. But why not put the people first? Why not emphasize that Europe is a perpetual exchange of words, languages, experiences. Fortunately there are some ambitious authors who dare to put a complex issue like Europe at the service of literature, and vice versa. Koen Peeters is one of them. His Great European Novel is brilliant display of literary ingenuity and playfulness. Following the tradition of classical storytellers, Peeters weaves an web of relationships stretching each and every European capital, from Bern to Ankara, from Kopenhagen to Lissabon.

Great European Novel was shortlisted for the Libris Literature Prize 2008 and longlisted for the Gouden Uil Literature Prize 2008.

Translators and literary magazines all over Europe have been translating and publishing samples from Great European Novel. The most recent sample translation is the Bulgarian one, translated by Aneta Dantcheva-Manolova and published by Plamak Magazine.

English, French, Italian and Spanish sample translations are also available.