Marieke Derksen used to be afraid that Johan would become ‘the next’ | Stars

entertainment">“Once, after Theo’s murder, that thought crossed my mind when someone on TV said: who’s next?” according to Marieke Derksen. “But Johan deals with peripheral matters. Peter R. de Vries was really concerned with real social things. That is much more important, much heavier. Today I am no longer afraid of that.”

entertainment">Marieke Derksen published countless bestsellers, such as Gijp, Kieft, Sneijder and Derksen. Yet she hardly feels at home in the publishing world. “I went to the Boekenbal, but quickly ran out screaming,” she says. “Everyone thinks they’re very interesting and it’s not fun at all. I much prefer to sit in a brown bar with nice people.”

entertainment">Until now, Derksen mainly published books about colorful football players: “But when Dennis Bergkamp or Arjen Robben report, I am also cheering. It doesn’t have to be just about people who have always hung in the chandelier or had an addiction. You can also just have the sympathy factor.”

entertainment">The publisher wants to focus more on books about the entertainment sector in the coming years. “Of course I am now also on the cutting edge: people like Johan and René van der Gijp are no longer even football players for many people.”

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