Six years ago Verhelst's fiction was first introduced in the Anglo-Saxon region when his novel ‘Tongkat' (‘Tonguecat') was released in English by New York publishing house Farrar, Straus & Giroux. This fall, 'Het geheim van de keel van de nachtegaal' (The secret of the nightingale's throat), the acclaimed children's book that he made together with illustrator Carll Cneut, will be translated into five different languages.
Verhelst is one of five Flemish writers that will be guests-of-honour at the Slovenian Vilenica International Literature Festival in September 2009.
