Home - Open Book Translation

Welcome to my website. I’m David McKay, an award-winning literary translator, and Open Book Translation is my Dutch-to-English translation business. My special interests include theater and performing arts, historical novels, visual arts, memoirs, international relations, and colonial and post-colonial literature. I have also been involved in translator assessment and mentoring for many years; highlights include serving twice as the Dutch-English ALTA Emerging Translator Mentor (Dutch-English) and judging a variety of translation prizes.

In November 2017, I received the Vondel Translation Prize for my translation of War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans, which was also nominated for the International Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award. In 2022, I was the runner-up for this same prize with Adrift in the Middle Kingdom by J. Slauerhoff. My joint translation with Ina Rilke of the anti-imperialist Dutch classic Max Havelaar was shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize 2020.

You can find my CV here and a more comprehensive list of past literary projects here. Many samples of my work can be accessed from the Links page. Thanks for your interest.

I invite you to check out my most recent publications: Revolusi by David Van Reybrouck (co-translated with David Colmer) and Off-White by Astrid Roemer (co-translated with Lucy Scott).

Selected Translations

David Van Reybrouck, *Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World*. Translated by David McKay and David Colmer. Bodley Head, 2024. PB.

Astrid Roemer, *Off-White*. Translated by David McKay and Lucy Scott. Two Lines Press, 2024. PB.

Stefan Hertmans, *The Ascent*. Translated by David McKay. Harvill Secker, 2022. HC.

Anton de Kom. *We Slaves of Suriname*. Translated by David McKay. Polity Press, 2022. PB.

Charlotte Van den Broeck. *Bold Ventures: Thirteen Tales of Architectural Tragedy*. Translated by David McKay. Other Press, 2022. HC.

cover of The Just — Jan Brokken, *The Just*. Translated by David McKay. Scribe, UK & Australia, 2021. HB.

cover of Planes — Jan Van Der Veken, *Planes*, translated by David McKay, Prestel Publishing, 2020. HB.

Cyriel Buysse, *The Aunts*. Translated by David McKay. Snuggly Books, 2020. PB.

Stefan Hertmans. The Convert. Translated by David McKay. Harvill Secker, 2019. PB — Stefan Hertmans. *The Convert*. Translated by David McKay. Harvill Secker, 2019. PB

J. Slauerhoff, *Adrift in the Middle Kingdom*. Translated by David McKay. Handheld Press, 2019. PB.

Multatuli, Max Havelaar: Or, the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company. Translated by David McKay, Ina Rilke. New York Review of Books, 2019 (NYRB Classics). PB. — Multatuli, *Max Havelaar: Or, the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company*. Translated by David McKay, Ina Rilke. New York Review of Books, 2019 (NYRB Classics). PB.

*Hockney/Van Gogh: The Joy of Nature*. Thames Hudson, 2019. PB.

*Rineke Dijkstra: The Louisiana Book*. Walther König, 2018. HB.

Black in Rembrandt's Time — *Black in Rembrandt’s Time*. W Books, 2020. PB.

Stefan Hertmans, War and Turpentine, translated by David McKay. Harvill Secker, PB. — Stefan Hertmans, *War and Turpentine*, translated by David McKay. Harvill Secker, 2016. PB.

*Penguin Book of Dutch Short Stories*. Selected by Joost Zwagerman, various authors and translators. Penguin (Modern Classics), 2016. PB.

Geert Buelens, Everything to Nothing, translated by David McKay. Verso, 2015. HB. — Geert Buelens, *Everything to Nothing: The Poetry of the Great War, Revolution and the Transformation of Europe*. Translated by David McKay. Verso, 2015. HB.

Ivo van Vulpen, *How to Find a Higgs Boson and Other Big Mysteries in the World of the Very Small*. Translated by David McKay. Yale University Press, 2020. HB.

Swallows and Floating Horses: An Anthology of Frisian Literature. ed. Ernst Bruinsma, Alpita de Jong and André Looijenga. Translated by David McKay, Michele Hutchison, Susan Massotty, Paul Vincent and David Colmer. Francis Boutle Publishers, 2018. PB. — *Swallows and Floating Horses: An Anthology of Frisian Literature*. ed. Ernst Bruinsma, Alpita de Jong and André Looijenga. Translated by David McKay, Michele Hutchison, Susan Massotty, Paul Vincent and David Colmer. Francis Boutle Publishers, 2018. PB.