Frank Westerman

Frank Westerman, 2012

Frank Westerman (born November 13, 1964 in Emmen, Province of Drenthe , Netherlands ) is a Dutch author and journalist .

Life

Westerman grew up in Assen in the province of Drenthe in a Dutch Reformed family. Westerman's father was an agricultural engineer. After graduating from high school, Westerman studied tropical agriculture at Wageningen University . His thesis at university he went in 1987 in the south of Peru to there around Puno irrigation methods of pre-Columbian Aymarabevölkerung in the Andes to explore. At this time he wrote his first reports as a journalist.

plant

Westerman went to Belgrade in 1992 as a correspondent for the Dutch daily de Volkskrant and experienced the fall of Yugoslavia there . As a reporter for the evening newspaper NRC Handelsblad , he visited the various trouble spots of the time. Together with his journalist colleague Bart Rijs , he was the only journalist to get through to Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995 . This area, inhabited by Muslim Bosniaks and intended to be "protected" by Dutch troops, was occupied by the Serbian troops under General Mladić . The occupation ended with the Srebrenica massacre of the male population and other atrocities.

The two journalists sat down in their book Srebrenica. Het Zwartste scenario from 1997 dealt with the subject by making use of secret documents and testimony. From 1997 to 2002 Westerman was a correspondent in Moscow .

Westerman has lived and worked exclusively as a writer in Amsterdam since 2002 .

Works

• 2018: Wij, de mens . Singel Uitgeverijen, Amsterdam, ISBN 978-9021412122 .
• 2016: Een woord een woord . De bezige bij, Amsterdam, ISBN 978-9023498599 .
  • in German: speeches. Talk? Talk! Do you talk to terrorists? , Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86153-910-0 .
• 2015: De moord opdeboekverkoopster . Fosfor, Amsterdam, ISBN 978-94-6225-137-3 .
• 2013: Stikvallei . De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, ISBN 978-90-234-7865-2 .
  • in German: Das Tal des Todes , Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-96289-012-4 .
• 2012: Daden van light caliber . Stichting Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlands Boek, Amsterdam.
• 2010: Dier, bovendier .
  • Translated into German by Gerd Busse and Gregor Seferens : The fate of the white horses: Another story of the 20th century . CH Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63088-0 .
• 2007: Ararat .
  • New edition in German: Ararat. An infidel's pilgrimage , Piper Malik National Geographic 2010, ISBN 978-3-492-40380-1 .
• 2004: El Negro en ik . Atlas, Amsterdam.
  • in German: El Negro. A disturbing encounter , Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-86153-368-5 .
• 2002: Engineers from the goal .
  • in German: Engineers of the soul. Writer under Stalin. A journey of discovery , translated by Gerd Busse. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-86153-304-9 .
• 1999: De Graanrepubliek .
  • in German: Das Getreideparadies , translated by Gerd Busse. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86153-550-8 .
• 1997: Srebrenica. Het Zwartste scenario , together with Bart Rijs.
• 1994: De brug over de Tara , reissued in an updated and expanded form in 2007.

honors and awards

• 2000: Dr. Lou de Jong Prize for De Graanrepubliek
• 2003: Dr. Wijnaendts Francken Prize for Engineers van de Ziel
• 2004: Jan Greshoff Prize for the same publication
• 2005: Gouden Uil Prize for El Negro en ik , also nominated for the AKO Literatuurprijs 2005
• 2017: Bob received the Uyl Prize for Een woord een woord .
• 2017: Brusse Prize for Een woord een woord .

Web links

• Literature by and about Frank Westerman in the catalog of the German National Library
• Official website