The Swim

Plot
A journalist interviews a writer about his most talked-about book in which a swimming afternoon ends in tragedy. The book is more autobiographical than the writer has admitted in the past. In the confrontational interview, the truth comes to light.

Contents
Journalist Bill interviews the cancer-ridden writer Mike Stiegford about his work. Stiegford (who is approaching his 39th birthday) has whimsical novels to his name that shed light on the dark side of life, with a lot of psychological depth and less attention on violence, sex and lifestyle. Mental breakdown plays a strong and explicit role in his work. The most remarkable novel is 'The Swimming Afternoon', a description of one day in the life of a teenage boy.
Besides being a journalist, Bill is also a biographer, and he is preparing a biography of Maarten Stiegford. After studying his life (partly on the basis of interviews) and oeuvre, the journalist suspects that 'The Swim Afternoon' is a more true representation of reality than Stiegford has always admitted in interviews. In an interview with a national newspaper, the writer once revealed that the novel is 'loosely based' on a 'very unpleasant experience' in his youth. A salient detail is that the writer has been portrayed in the media as a possible culprit in what appeared to be a fatal accident. Bill tries to find out what really happened that day. The conversation that follows and Stiegford's narrative cause a stir between the two men: they discuss murder, the perception of guilt and the development of a teenager into a human being. This also puts the relationship between journalist and novelist on edge, with both slowly losing their roles. Their businesslike attitude changes against their will into a personal relationship of dependence. Stiegford unravels his story with suspense as he draws ever closer to the moment of his own death.