how the first sparks became visible

Simone Atangana Bekono was born in 1991 and studied at Creative Writing ArtEZ, graduating in 2016 with hoe de eerste vonken zichtbaar waren , a collection of poems and letters which includes the poems featured in how the first sparks became visible . This book was republished in a commercial edition by Wintertuin Uitgeverij in collaboration with Lebowski Publishers and went on to win the Poëziedebuutprijs Aan Zee, a prize for the best Dutch-language poetry debut. In the same year, Atangana Bekono also won the prestigious Charlotte Köhler Stipendium for new Dutch writers. Her first novel, Confrontatie , was published in Autumn 2020 by Lebowski Publishers.