He received the Ferdinand Bordewijk Prijs in 1999 for Twee harten op een schotel.
He studied English and translating in Amsterdam, and debuted in 1988 with the novel De Kapper, for which he was awarded the Geertjan Lubberhuizen Prijs and Anton Wachter Prijs for best debut.
The writing of IJlander is quiet and subdued, with strong formulations notice.
The themes of his novels are often psychological struggles of his characters.
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