Maarten Asscher
Maarten Asscher, born in Alkmaar in 1957, studied Assyriology and law before turning to publishing and his own work as a writer. As a publisher, he contributed to the literary recognition of authors such as Giorgio Bassani, Marcel Möring, Carlos Fuentes, Primo Levi and Amos Oz in the Netherlands. He himself translated poems by Thomas Gry, Paul Valéry and Fernando Pessoa, among others. From 1998 to 2003 he held a high office in the Dutch Ministry of Cultural Affairs. He then served as managing director of Athenaeum Boekhandel in Amsterdam, one of Holland's largest independent bookstores. Maarten Asscher has published essays, short stories, poems as well as novels.