Henk van Woerden
Henk van Woerden (born December 6, 1947 in Leiden , Netherlands , † November 6, 2005 in Ann Arbor , Michigan ) was a Dutch-South African writer and painter.
Youth and education
Van Woerden was born in the Netherlands. When he was nine years old, his parents wanted to emigrate to Utah , but ended up in Cape Town in 1957 . After completing his school education, he began studying art at the University of Cape Town in 1964 , with a special permit because he was only 17 years old. Like many students, he was in constant opposition to the ruling apartheid regime , refused military service, paid no taxes and refused to wear a passport that identified him as a white man. Since he was actually staying illegally in the country, he drew the consequences, broke off his studies and left South Africa in May 1968 for Amsterdam .
Career
In the following years he traveled all over Europe and lived mainly in Greece , especially on Crete , as well as in Amsterdam. He started writing, in both English and Dutch, but did not publish his works. He made his living painting. He won the Royal Award for Painting in 1980 and exhibited in many European countries, including the International Triënale in Nuremberg and the Biennale des Jeunes in Paris .
It wasn't until the end of the 80s that he turned back to writing. The publisher Joost Nijsen read his travel diary since his first trip to South Africa and encouraged him to write a novel about South Africa. His first book Moenie kyk never appeared in 1993 and won the Geertjan Lubberhuizen Prize for best debut. Together with Tikoes (1996) and Een mond vol glas (1998) it forms his South African trilogy. Een mond vol glas is a biography of Dimitri Tsafendas , who killed the South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd in 1966 . He won the Alan Paton Award in 2001 , the book was adapted for the stage by Antony Sher in 2002 and made into a film by the BBC in 2003. He also wrote a biography about the South African poet Ingrid Jonker and two other novels.
Van Woerden died in Ann Arbor in 2005, where he was a writer-in-residence for the University of Michigan .
Works
- Moenie kyk never, 1993
- Tikoes, 1996
- Een mond vol glas, 1998
- Notities van een luchtfietser, 2002
- Ultramarijn, 2006
Awards
- 2003: Frans Kellendonk Prize for the complete work
- 2006: Gouden Uil for Ultramarijn
Web links
- Literature by and about Henk van Woerden in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Woerden, Henk van |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch-South African writer and painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 6, 1947 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Leiden , Netherlands |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 6, 2005 |
| Place of death | Ann Arbor , Michigan |