Hi! I’m Ilse. I write books (novels and essays) and literary criticism. I am an editor for Central European University Press and have a PhD in Jewish Studies and an MA in Gender Studies. While I chose to leave academia some years ago, I still enjoy being in conversation with the scholarly world from time to time. Currently, I teach writing at the Schrijversvakschool in Amsterdam, where I live with my daughter, after two decades of restless wanderings across the globe (New York, Boston, Jerusalem, Budapest, Berlin, Oslo, London and Florence). I have a lifelong love for outsiders and truth-tellers.

As a writer, I examine the inner worlds of lone female narrators traversing the world. As a critic, I write about literature in translation by female, queer or immigrant authors and those in between identities or languages. As an editor, I focus on publishing the work of junior scholars while expanding the idea of what an academic book can do or sound like. As a teacher, I hope to create an environment where students can think, explore and take leaps. In all these roles, my wish is to extend an invitation to wander and to feel.

My creative work has been supported by Tin House, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, the Unexpected Shape Community, the Dutch Foundation for Literature and the Amarte Foundation. I served on the jury of the J.M.A. Biesheuvelprijs, a bi-annual prize for the best short story collection in Dutch, and the European Literature Prize, which celebrates both authors and translators. Currently, I serve on the jury of the Martinus Nijhoff Translation Prize, the largest prize for translators in the Netherlands. My work has appeared in German and Hungarian translation.

I adore hearing from readers, writers or scholars of all kinds. Feel welcome to reach out via the contact page on this website, or Bluesky or Instagram (at @ilsejosepha). I really appreciate you being here.