Mensje van Keulen has agreed to write the 2027 Boekenweekgeschenk and will then personally hand a copy to every reader in the Netherlands, one at a time, beginning on the first morning of the Boekenweek and continuing until the last reader in the country has been served. The CPNB has confirmed that the author, who turns 80 next year, will travel a route of 2.3 million handshakes, pausing only to accept a bitterbal at each provincial border.
«We considered a stack by the till,» a CPNB spokesperson said. «But Mensje pointed out that a gift is not a gift unless it is given. She will start in Amsterdam and work outward in a spiral. Booksellers have been asked to keep their doors open and their coffee warm.»
The theme of the week, «Kijk ons nou», has been reinterpreted as a literal instruction: readers are now required to look at Mensje van Keulen as she approaches, and to look at themselves in a mirror she will carry for the purpose. Japke-d. Bouma, writing the theme-uitgave, has been assigned to stand behind her and take notes on office behaviour observed in the queue.
Municipalities along the route have begun widening pavements and installing benches at 400-metre intervals. A training regime for the author includes daily walks with a satchel of 60 books. «It is an honour,» Van Keulen said. «It is also a schedule.»