Jaap Robben (Oosterhout, The Netherlans, 1984) is a writer and poet, the author of novels, poetry, children’s books, and plays. He studied Environmental Management and later continued his education at the Koningstheateracademie.
He began his career as a poet and children’s author, and his books for young readers are characterized by humor, imagination, and sensitivity to the complexities of childhood experiences. In 2014, he published his first novel for adults, Birk, which became a bestseller in the Netherlands and received several literary awards, including the Dutch Booksellers’ Book of the Year. Summer Brother (2018) has been translated into several languages, was longlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize, and was adapted into a film. In 2022, he published his highly acclaimed novel Afterlight, which became a bestseller and won the Confituur Booksellers Award in 2023.
In his novels, Robben often writes about loss, family relationships, loneliness, guilt, care, and the invisible traces that people leave on one another.
His writing is characterized by a simple, precise, and poetic language through which he transforms intimate stories into universal themes. Robben lives and works in the Netherlands, where, alongside writing, he leads creative-writing workshops and takes part in various literary and theatre projects.
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Afterlight (Schemerleven)
Translation to Macedonian: Elizabeta Bozhinoska
"Antolog", Skopje, 2025
This moving work gives voice to the quiet grief of mothers of stillborn babies.
Young and free-spirited florist Frieda grows up in a strict Catholic environment in the 1960s. One winter afternoon, when she steps onto a frozen river, she cannot imagine that her life is about to change forever. Her passionate affair with the married Otto begins intensely and ends with her pregnancy—a scandal in the world she inhabits.
For decades, Frieda keeps the memory of this chapter of her life to herself, but the grief over the child she lost remains, despite her later marriage and the birth of her son. At the age of eighty-one, she suddenly finds herself alone again. The quiet grief returns with full force. Only then does she dare to confront her story—and share it.
Inspired by true events, Robben’s novel not only lifts the veil on Frieda’s story, but also sheds light on the experiences of countless women. The result is a powerful story of buried female trauma, shaped by society, organized religion, and deeply ingrained social conventions.