Authors / Nicolaas Matsier

Nicolaas Matsier

Nicolaas Matsier

(c) Keke Keukelaar

Nicolaas Matsier (b. 1945) established his reputation with the short story collections Oud-Zuid (1976), Undetermined Unhindered (1979) and the novella The Eternal City (1982). His autobiographical novel Closed House (1994) was nominated for the AKO-Literature Prize, the Gouden Uil and the Libris Literature Prize and was awarded the Mekka Prize and the F. Bordewijk Prize. He received the E. du Perron Prize for his novel The Forty-eighth Hour in 2005. In 2017 Matsier made his debut as a poet with the collection Untitled Undated.

 

Recent title – English material available

The Advocate of Holland, 2019

Rarely have I been as close to a 17th-century soul as in the pages of this novel. Matsier wrote a gossamer masterpiece. - Geert Mak, Author

Matsier skillfully interweaves the complex history of the then-young republic with the last ten months of Oldenbarnevelt’s life. In doing so he keeps the story small, in the seclusion of Oldenbarnevelt’s cell, but simultaneously handles the large political developments that haunt the thoughts of the former statesman. […] A riveting historical novel. - HP/De Tijd

A marvellously thrilling and believable psychological novel. - Trouw