The mark of Gaea Schoetersʼs award-winning novel is its extraordinary narrative power. Schoeters uses elements from the genre of “colonial hunting literature” to expose the white colonial view of the African continent. Grippingly told, evoking wild nature in a way reminiscent of nature writing, the novel describes the clash between indigenous people and the visiting trophy hunters, whose moral values are shaken to the core. Before the trip, Hunter, a filthy rich American and passionate hunter, had shot virtually everything except one. Finally, his friend Van Heeren offers him a rhino to shoot. Hunter travels to Africa, but when his project to bag the Big Five is abruptly ended by poachers, Hunter longs for revenge. When Van Heeren asks whether he has heard of the Big Six, we are led to the question: how much is a human life worth?

The VorLaut reading series gives up-and-coming authors a stage: similar to the opening act in music, they perform their lyrics in front of established authors.