Alette Smeulers winner of the award for Beste Groninger Boek 2026

Alette Smeulers won the award for Beste Groninger Boek 2026 on Thursday evening, October 8.

The award was presented at Forum Groningen during the Groningen Book Festival. Alette Smeulers won in the nonfiction category with her book Angstaanjagend normaal, which chronicles thirty years of research into perpetrator behavior.

The jury—composed of Lejo Siepe, Alice Faber, Anita Oosterloo, Ruth Ruijgers, and Vincent Kortmann—described the book as a seminal work of great contemporary relevance.

This year, 51 titles were nominated for the Best Groningen Book award. The prize in the nonfiction category went to Ine Boermans for *Een grillig soort grind*; *Demarcaties* by Michael ter Maat won the readers’ choice award.