At the age of eleven, Zindzi Zevenbergen (1990) knew one thing for sure: she wanted to be a rapper. Not because she liked iced out chains or wearing her pants halfway down, but because she dreamed of crafting complex-sounding verses through wordplay. However, things turned out differently. After a bachelor’s in Language and Communication, and a master’s in Text and Communication, she began working as a copywriter. Zevenbergen also writes children's books, poetry and short stories, and gives writing workshops.

Her debut children’s book, Lennox en de gouden sikkel (De Harmonie, 2021), with illustrations by Brian Elstak and Hedy Tjin and in collaboration with IXL Sickle Cell Awareness, made a big impact. It won both a Zilveren Griffel and a Zilveren Penseel and was nominated for the Boon, the most prestigious children’s and youth literature prize of The Netherlands and Belgium. The book was also turned into the successful hip-hop opera Lennox (8+), produced by the Dutch National Opera and RIGHTABOUTNOW INC. The play will run in theaters from October 2024 to April 2025.

For her historical youth novel Manie Schaafijs (De Harmonie, 2023)—a colorful, polyphonic family story about Suriname’s first shaved ice vendor, created once again with Hedy Tjin—Zevenbergen received another Zilveren Griffel. The book also won the Thea Beckman Prize and the Jenny Smelik-IBBY Prize. In 2023, Zevenbergen was awarded the Boer Boris Premie for promising children’s book makers.