About 350 years ago, the French philosopher Pierre Bayle Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres printing in the Amsterdam Kalverstraat. Goal: to celebrate European intellectual life beyond national borders through an artistic and literary magazine. A new genre emerged: the book review.
Founders Sander Pleij, George Blaustein and Wiegertje Postma envision a new Republic of Letters. You can also call it a continental European equivalent of The London Review of Books or The New York Review of Books to call. Big ambitions are not shunned.
With the help of donors and the Studio Europa expertise center, which doubled the amount raised, about 95 thousand euros were collected. As a result, the first edition of The European Review of Books available now, digitally and in print. 3,500 copies of the 256-page magazine, which are richly illustrated, have been printed. The stories range from one page to 8,000 words. A number of stories have been printed in both native language and English. That fits the motto of the magazine: read it twice† Pleij: ‘You want to read a good and well-thought-out essay twice, perhaps even in two languages.’
Well-known names participate. It contains an essay by the Scottish author Ali Smith, a short story by the English writer David Mitchell and a contribution by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. Pleij is working on a book about Koolhaas at the same time, so the busy architect could be caught quite easily.
Pleij: ‘Old, but especially new generations read English. As a result, America and, to a lesser extent, Britain exert a huge influence on what we read. I was disturbed by that. We want to allow voices from all over Europe and beyond, by the way, to have their say. The well-known names associated with us made it easier to attract writers and scientists from all over Europe to publish with us. It is time for Europe to hear about Irina Dumitrescu, Noga Arikha and Kalypso Nicolaïdis.’
Pleij emphasizes that the magazine is not looking for opinion pieces. They also poured in in recent months, with titles like ‘What Europe should do’. Pleij: ‘The newspapers are already full of that. That certainty does not suit us either. We leave more room for doubt.’
The European Review of Books wants to contribute to European culture. ‘Europe is the starting point, without it becoming Eurocentric’, says Pleij. ‘Europe is a fluid concept. We write from a postcolonial Europe, a migrant Europe and a liberal Europe. Often discussions about Europe are reduced to pro or against the European Union. We want to think more broadly.’
The European Review of Books is published three times a year. Numbers cost 21 euros each in the Netherlands. An online subscription costs 4.50 euros per month.