Mehmet Küçükaycan Wins Kabouterpers Writing Competition 2025 with moving Story "Tovenaar"

AMSTERDAM - Oct. 18, 2025 - PRLog -- Kabouterpers Publishing is proud to announce that "Tovenaar" by Mehmet Küçükaycan is the winner of the Kabouterpers Writing Competition 2025. The competition, which focused on fantasy and fairy tales, attracted 45 entries of varying standards. From short stories to novellas and even a 656-page novel – the range of creativity was impressive. Amongst the participants were debut writers as well as creative writing lecturers and authors who already have dozens of books to their name.

WINNER: "Tovenaar" – Mehmet Küçükaycan

The winning story combines magical realism with an immigrant perspective. A father with diamonds and a purple wizard's hat is convinced that he possesses magical powers. His daughter is the only one in the family who believes him – or tries to believe. Whilst his wife dismisses his wizardry as madness, he builds his most ambitious project in their shed: rocket Beatrix MA5, with which he wants to fly to a distant planet.

Set in the Netherlands in December 1980, this story tells of a Surinamese immigrant who refuses to give up his dreams, despite the mockery of those around him. With books from the library, cardboard, aluminium foil and his own conviction, he constructs a rocket. And on a cold Christmas evening in 1980, illuminated by burning branches, something magical happens in the back garden.

"Tovenaar" subtly plays with the question: what is real and what is imagination? Was the nocturnal journey to the planet reality, or was the girl dreaming? It is a love letter to fathers who keep dreaming, to children who dare to believe, and to the magical space between reality and fantasy where immigrants cherish their memories.

"'Tovenaar' touched all of us," says the jury. "It is a story about love between father and daughter, and about how immigrants cherish their dreams in a new country – a universal message."

FROM DEBUT TO ESTABLISHED AUTHOR

The diversity amongst participants was striking. "We read work from people who submitted a story for the first time, but also from authors with years of experience," the jury recounts. "Some creative writing lecturers took part, as did writers who have already published dozens of books. That everyone competed together for the same prize demonstrates how seriously this competition was taken."

"What moved us most was the quality," the jury emphasises. "We had expected to have to reject many manuscripts, but in the end only five stories were ineligible because they were too short. The rest? Pure magic."

The jury congratulates all participants: "Keep writing. Keep dreaming. You are the future of Dutch fantasy."

Website: https://kabouterpers.be/prijsuitreiking-schrijfwedstrijd