Women's Prize for Fiction
1 appearances
-
Edition 30 (2025) Winner
Yael van der Wouden
ヤエル・ファン・デル・ウーデン
Yael van der Wouden
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1987-01-01 （Tel Aviv）
- Nationality
- Dutch, Israeli
- Languages
- English, Dutch
- Religion
- Judaism
- Residence History
- Israel (birth) place → Netherlands (grew up)
Career
- Occupations
- writer, novelist, creative writing teacher
- Active Years
- 2018-2025
- Nominations
- Booker Prize 2024 Shortlist, Aspen Words Literary Prize 2025 Shortlist, Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlist, Sophie Brody Award Shortlist, Walter Scott Prize 2025 Shortlist, Wingate Literary Prize 2025 Longlist
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utrecht University | Faculty of Humanities | Comparative Literature | — | — | Netherlands |
| SUNY Binghamton | — | Comparative Literature | — | — | United States |
Utrecht University
Faculty of Humanities
/ Comparative Literature
Country:
Netherlands
SUNY Binghamton
Comparative Literature
Country:
United States
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Women's Prize for Fiction | The Safekeep | — | Women's Prize | Won |
Women's Prize for Fiction
2025
Work:
The Safekeep
Organization:
Women's Prize
Result:
Won
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Safekeep
2024 Historical fictionSet 15 years after World War II, Isabel lives in her late parents' Dutch house when her brother's partner Eva comes to stay for the summer. What happens between the two women leads to a revelation threatening everything she has known.
post-Holocaust reckoningsexual awakeningqueer romanceJewish identity
Bibliography
- The Safekeep (2024)
- On (Not) Reading Anne Frank (essay, 2018)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- eroticblending historical reckoning with personal and sexual awakening
- Recurring Motifs
- secrets and revelationsqueer relationshipspostwar Europe
Health
-
intersex13歳で判明Hormonally intersex, publicly disclosed in acceptance speech
Legacy
Debut novel The Safekeep shortlisted for 2024 Booker Prize (first Dutch author), won 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction. Noted as queer Dutch-Jewish writer.
In Popular Culture
- Featured in categories like intersex women, queer novelists
Quotes
-
the long and the short of it is that hormonally I am intersex.
Source: Women's Prize for Fiction acceptance speech (2025) -
Dutch-Israeli mixed-bag-diaspora child
Source: Interview
Trivia
- Started ballet at age 3, competed in school talent show at 10 with a dance interpreting a flame
- First Dutch author and only debut on 2024 Booker shortlist
- Explores Dutch-Jewish queer identity