Science fiction today: Esther Gerritsen and Kaliane Bradley
Gebied 19 by Esther Gerritsen won the Boekenbon Literature Prize. The Ministry of Time was shortlisted for two literary prizes in Britain. Both of these science-fiction novels are set in the near future, but they are especially relevant for today’s world.
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Gebied 19 is set in two worlds: the new planet of TOI-700, where much of humanity has been relocated, and the world we know as Earth, a haunted place where those who stayed behind wander aimlessly. For this eerily recognizable novel, Esther Gerritsen received the 2024 Boekenbon Literature Prize. According to the jury: ‘Spanning different times, sentiments and places, Gebied 19 is as relevant as ever. The novel is a fine piece of science fiction in the polders.’
if max porter says so...
A civil servant living in a near-future London falls in love with a ship commander from the year 1874. This is possible because The Ministry of Time experiments with time travel. But falling in love is not the only unforeseen consequence of this ambitious project, which threatens to derail completely. Max Porter described Kaliane Bradley’s book as ‘exciting, surprising, intellectually provocative, weird, radical, tender and moving’.
soon and now
Both authors manage to make a story with the most unreal premise – half of humanity shipped to another planet in a single night, in Gerritsen’s case, and a government agency beaming people from past centuries to London, in Bradley’s case – immediately plausible. As readers, we are immediately drawn into the stream of their storytelling and are thoroughly entertained with a vision of the future that makes us reflect on our own uneasy present.
about the authors
Kaliane Bradley is a British-Cambodian writer based in London. Her short stories and essays have been published in various media. In 2022 she won the Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize and the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize. The Ministry of Time is her debut novel. It was nominated for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.
Esther Gerritsen (b. 1972) writes novels, columns and screenplays for TV and film. Since her debut in 2000, she has published several successful novels, four of which were nominated for the Libris Literature Prize. She had the honour of writing the 2016 Book Week gift, Broer, and for many years had a popular weekly column in the VPRO-gids. Gebied 19 was published in 2023. It was nominated for the Libris Literature Prize and awarded the Boekenbon Literature Prize in 2024.
over de moderator
Steven Van Ammel (1976) has a large track record in the literary field. Over the past 25 years he has worked for large chains, communist publishers and independent bookstores. When he is not too busy writing literary pieces for De Standaard, he can be found working on his new book with the work titled 'De liefhebber. Over de bibliomanie en andere ondeugden.'
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