Franca Treur (born 1979) is a Dutch writer and a freelance journalist for ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis NRC. It is widely regarded as a newspaper of record in the country. History was first published on 1 October 1970 after a merger of the Amst ...

'' and ''

nrc.next ''NRC Next'' (; stylized as ''nrc•next'') was a Dutch daily newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis. The first edition was released on 14 March 2006. It was stopped in March 2021. ''NRC Next'' was a morning edition tabloid, and its ...

''.

Biography

Youth and education

Treur grew up in a strict Reformed Christian farming family in her

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

ic birthplace of Meliskerke. After secondary school at the Calvijn College, she went on to study

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

. Later she switched to

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

and

literary science Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, th ...

. In

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, she became a member of the Reformed student association Panoplia. According to a newspaper interview, during her studies she discovered the similarities between stories from

Ancient Near East The ancient Near East was home to many cradles of civilization, spanning Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran (or Persia), Anatolia and the Armenian highlands, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. As such, the fields of ancient Near East studies and Nea ...

ern cultures and those related in the Bible, which convinced her that such stories were merely invented to console human beings. Moreover, she says that she had never felt the

existence of God The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the exis ...

, and therefore abandoned her faith, informing the board of Panoplia about it on 11 September 2001.

Literary career

In 2006, Treur won an essay competition, themed 'Macht en onmacht' ('Power and powerlessness') commissioned by ''Contrast Magazine'' and ''nrc.next'', with her piece ''Maak iets van je leven! Maar wat?'' ("Make something out of your life! But what?"). In October 2009, her first book ''Dorsvloer vol confetti'' ("Threshing Floor Laden With Confetti") was published. It is a

psychological novel In literature, psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of its characters. The mode of narration examin ...

about a girl that grows up in Zeeland in a deeply religious farming family in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although her youth served as a crucial role of inspiration, the novel is not an autobiography. The book sold over 150,000 copies. Because of the topic and her background, her style is often compared to writers such as Jan Siebelink and

Maarten 't Hart Maarten 't Hart (born 25 November 1944 in Maassluis) is a Dutch writer. Trained as a biologist in zoology and ethology at the Leiden University, he taught that subject before becoming a full-time writer in the 1980s, having made his debut as a ...

, who, like her, have broken away from the strict Reformed milieu in which they were raised. In 2010, Franca Treur won the Selexyz Debut Prize. ''Dorsvloer vol confetti'' was nominated several times, including for the

AKO Literatuurprijs The Bookspot Literatuurprijs (previously ECI Literatuurprijs, AKO Literatuurprijs and Generale Bank Literatuurprijs) is a prize for literature in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is awarded to authors writing in Dutch language, Dutch and amounts t ...

(longlist) and the NS Publieksprijs. At the end of 2010, Column Film announced that it had bought the

film rights Film rights are rights under copyright law to produce a film as a derivative work of a given item of intellectual property. In US law, these rights belong to the holder of the copyright, who may sell (or " option") them to someone in the film indus ...

for ''Dorsvloer vol confetti''. It was shown in cinemas in 2014. In 2014, she participated in the International Writing Program's Fall Residency at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA.

Works

Novels

*''Dorsvloer vol confetti'' ("Threshing Floor Laden With Confetti"), 2009 *''De woongroep'' ("The Commune"), 2014 *''Ik zou maar nergens op rekenen'' ("I Wouldn't Count on Anything"), Zeelandic boekenweekgeschenk 2015 *''X&Y'' (stories), 2016

Essay bundle

*''Zondig in Zeeland'' ("Sinful in Zeeland"), 2012, together with

Freek de Jonge Frederik "Freek" Jan Georg de Jonge (born 30 August 1944) is a Dutch cabaret performer and writer. Biography Early life and career De Jonge was born in Westernieland as son of a pastor. His family moved to Workum, and later to Zaandam and ...

Oek de Jong Oebele Klaas Anne (Oek) de Jong (born 4 October 1952 in Breda) is a Dutch novelist. He debuted in 1976 with ''De hemelvaart van Massimo'', a collection of short stories for which he received the Reina Prinsen Geerligsprijs. In 1980 he won th ...

and others.

Film adaption

*''Dorsvloer vol Confetti'' ("Threshing Floor Laden With Confetti"), 2014

References

External links

*
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treur, Franca 1979 births Living people 21st-century Dutch novelists Dutch journalists Dutch women novelists People from Veere International Writing Program alumni Dutch former Christians Dutch atheists Former Calvinist and Reformed Christians 21st-century Dutch women writers Leiden University alumni