Isabel Hoving
Isabel Hoving was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She began her career as a secondary school teacher, during which time she became very active in the Dutch women's movement.
She eventually gave up her job to study literary theory full-time, and spent some months in Senegal, West Africa for a research project.
Hoving's first book, The Dream Merchant, was published in the Netherlands as De gevleugelde kat. It won the 2003 Gouden Zoen award, the Netherlands' most prestigious children's book prize. Her book on Caribbean women migrant writing, In Praise of New Travelers, was published in 2001. She is co-editor of the Dutch five-volume series Cultuur en migratie, on the influence of migrants on Dutch culture.
Hoving is now an academic and lecturer at the University of Amsterdam. She publishes in the fields of intercultural and postcolonial theory and cultural analysis, and edits the journal Thamyris/Intersecting, a journal on issues of place, sex and race.
She lives with her partner and son in Amsterdam.
“What's supposed to happen, at the end of a quest? Cheers and accolades, Josh knew; people throw their hats in the air, and you glow with pride as they lift you to their shoulders. What else? Medals, speeches and a great feast, and then a ballad about your exploits, and finally, as the fireworks go off overhead, a soft, clean, fresh bed.”
“That's the positive aspect of trade I suppose. The world gets stirred up together. That's about as much as I have to say for it.”