Marieke De Maré and Anaïs Van Ertvelde win two literary prizes in The Hague
Two Belgian authors, Marieke De Maré and Anaïs Van Ertvelde, have won two of the five literary prizes awarded this year by the Jan Campert Foundation on behalf of the municipality of The Hague.
The F. Bordewijk Prize for the best Dutch-language narrative prose has been awarded to Ik ga naar de schapen by Marieke De Maré (b. 1985). Five characters, each with a distinct pastime, feel inextricably linked to one another. Yet hardly anything happens. Amid the long stretches of watching and silence, unspoken questions linger. A poignant parable about life and love. In addition to being an author, Marieke is a performer, director and teacher. Ik ga naar de schapen (2024) follows her equally acclaimed debut novel Bult (2020).
The J. Greshoff Prize for Essays goes to Handicap: een bevrijding by Anaïs Van Ertvelde (°1988). Anaïs, who was born with a shortened right forearm, speaks about the social impact of disability. How is this disability perceived by the world, and conversely, what does its perception reveal about society? What is the relationship between the body, disability, and sexuality, and what deeper questions emerge from their intersection? In addition to being a writer, Anaïs is a historian, publicist, columnist and podcast creator, among other things.
The Jan Campert Foundation was established in 1947 on the initiative of The Hague city council to support and reward outstanding literary achievements. It is named after Jan Campert, a Dutch poet and resistance fighter who died in a German concentration camp in 1943.