English 
Nederlands The RomanReuzen Literacy Initiative
In the Netherlands, youth literacy is declining at an alarming rate. Fewer and fewer young people are able to handle longer texts, let alone immerse themselves in novels. To help counter this trend, the reading promotion project RomanReuzen was launched in the spring of 2025, with support from the Corendon Foundation.
Over the course of a year, leading Dutch authors visit libraries and secondary schools. There, they are interviewed by students who, under the guidance of their teachers, have read one of their books in advance. This creates a direct encounter between young readers and literary creators.
The initiative by journalist Frénk van der Linden and photographer Fjodor Buis also includes a traveling photo exhibition featuring 50 writer portraits, a series of literary events across Dutch cities, and a special stamp collection by PostNL.
The initiators are grateful for the Corendon Foundation’s involvement: “Without gestures like this, a project like this simply wouldn’t take off. We’ve been running for a few months now and we see that it works. Young people sit with a book in their lap across from a writer like Bart Chabot and ask him the most surprising questions. If we can get even one of them to start reading, it’s a success. But it’s turning out to be many more.”