The award of the prestigious Martinus Nijhoff Prize to translator Riet De Jong-Goossens for her impressive list of prose translations from Afrikaans to Dutch is further recognition of the growing importance of and interest in Afrikaans in the Netherlands. It will no doubt focus attention on Afrikaans literature in an even wider circle. The translated oeuvre represents a broad spectrum of Afrikaans literary works over the last two decades, and includes novels by winners of the Hertzog Prize, the most important literary prize in South Africa.  The most complex translation is probably of Marlene van Niekerk's Agaat. It was specifically mentioned in the committee's report as a wonderful example of the "successful negotiation between the South African and Dutch cultures".

Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu