Welcome

The Vereniging van Letterkundigen (VvL), the Dutch society of authors or the 'Dutch Writers Guild' is an organisation for professional novelists, playwrights, poets and translators of such texts.

The guild was founded in 1905 and serves the collective and individual interests of writers and translators. As the first chairman, Lodewijk van Deyssel, put it:
'The guild in the first place wants to be a union to protect the material interests of writers.'

Since 1998 the VvL has been part of the association of writers and translators (Vereniging van Schrijvers en Vertalers, VSenV), which comprises the script writers’ network (Netwerk Scenarioschrijvers) and the association of free lance writers (FreeLancers Associatie, FLA).

Many of what are now regarded as self-evident legal rights have in the past been won by the VvL, alone or in collaboration with other organisations. Examples are the model agreements, a minimum rate for literary translations as well as the collection and distribution of amounts due under lending rights and cable rights by the literary rights foundation Stichting Literaire Rechten Auteurs (LIRA). The model agreements and translation rates are regularly renegotiated.

The VvL has five working groups for writers of children’s books, poetry, prose, texts for the theatre and translators.

Two foundations are affiliated to the VvL:
The Stichting Charlotte Köhler which annually awards a grant to a young author, the genre alternating every year. The Charlotte Köhler prize is awarded every five years.
The Dr. Elly Jaffé Stichting which is devoted to literary translators translating from French into Dutch. An oeuvre prize is awarded biennially to a literary translator. French translators may also be eligible for a grant. 

Model Agreement for the publication of original Dutch literary works.