Reading with Anna Woltz "De spin en de sleutel"

The winner of the James Krüss Prize 2026 at Blutenburg Castle!

Anna Woltz, born in London in 1981, grew up in The Hague. At the age of fifteen, she was already writing columns for the newspaper De Volkskrant. She studied history in Leiden and has since worked as a freelance author and journalist. Woltz has written over twenty children’s and young adult books, which have won numerous awards and been translated into nine languages, including German.

In 2026, she will receive the James Krüss Prize for International Children’s and Young Adult Literature together with her translator Andrea Kluitmann. The author is being honoured for her work, which, with “exceptional precision, excellent characterisation and wonderfully incisive dialogue […] tells the stories of children and young people whose world has been turned upside down”. Whether in witty, thrilling and sometimes offbeat adventure stories or in sophisticated young adult novels with psychological depth and a fresh, cheeky narrative voice, Woltz explores the themes of family and coming of age.

This is also the case in her latest novel, “De spin en de sleutel” (Engl. Transl.: The Spider and the Key):
The summer is scorching hot and Elena wants only one thing: to get away. And as quickly as possible. A single video post on her social media account was enough to catapult the 13-year-old into a viral storm of abuse. Not a day goes by without hateful comments and vicious bullying attacks. Her aunt’s remote farm becomes Elena’s last refuge. On her way there, she throws away her phone and cuts off her long hair. At the farm, she meets the withdrawn and suspicious Atlas. He has boarded up the windows of his bedroom and disappears into the darkness for hours at night. Elena is desperate to know why he shuts himself off from the world. What has he been through, and how can she get through to him?  

Languages: Dutch, English, German

Moderation: Andrea Kluitmann (translator, moderator, journalist)
Length: approx. 60-75 min
Costs: 5,00€ / student

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