John Nieuwenhuizen was an Australian-based, award-winning translator of Dutch and Flemish literature. He had a high profile, especially in educational circles, as the translator of such books as Falling by Anne Provoost, which became a set text in high schools; The Baboon King by Anton Quintana, for which he won the USA’s Mildred L Batchelder Award; and The Book of Everything by Guus Kuijer, for which he was shortlisted for the UK’s Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation. He was awarded the New South Wales Premier’s Translation Prize and PEN Medallion in 2007.
The eldest of eleven children, John Nieuwenhuizen emigrated from Holland in 1955, at the age of twenty. Eventually his command of English and other languages enabled him move into teaching (English, French, history and music appreciation) and librarianship. He also began translating short stories from Dutch for successful publication and was active in the establishment of ALiTrA, the Australian Literary Translators’ Association.
His translations have been published in Australia, North America and the UK with consistent critical and commercial success.
He is the father of John Nieuwenhuizen, reviewer and author of works on the publishing industry, who died in 2006.
(Biography supplied by Julia Imogen.)
