Belle van Zuylen Ring

Since 2005, some of the world’s most highly acclaimed authors have been invited to Utrecht to give the Belle van Zuylen Lectures, named after one of Utrecht’s most illustrious writers. The lecture series is a way to perpetuate Belle van Zuylen’s philosophy, with her strong emphasis on equality and emancipation. Previous speakers have included Paul Auster (US), Hans Magnus Enzensberger (Germany), Michel Faber (UK), Jeanette Winterson (UK), György Konrád (Hungary) and Azar Nafisi (Iran). The series was discontinued after 10 editions in 2014.

But in 2019, the ILFU International Literature Festival Utrecht took the initiative to resume the lecture series and to present an award to the author selected to give the lecture: the Belle van Zuylen Ring. The Ring is a collaborative effort between the City of Utrecht and the ILFU; the ILFU appoints the selection committee, chooses the year’s author and pays the author a suitable stipend for giving the lecture. The City of Utrecht commissioned artist and jeweller Karin Wichers to design the award in the form of a ring.

The first Belle van Zuylen Ring was presented to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who gave the Belle van Zuylen lecture in TivoliVredenburg on 11 January 2020.