Anton Valens
(Paterswolde, 1964) got critical acclaim and various literary awards for his debut Meester in de Hygiëne (Master in Hygiene, 2004). In this strongly autobiographical collection of short stories Valens writes about his experiences in home care. Just like Valens, the main character Bonne is a visual artist with ties with Groningen. His second book Dweiloorlog (Mop War, 2008) is a sequel to his debut, with more stories about Bonne's experiences. In 2009 he published the novella Vis (Fish). Again the main character is a visual artist who this time sails on a fishing boat, and so gets to know the rough life of a fisherman. In between he wrote a travelogue on China, Ik wilde naar de rand van Beijing (Journey to the Outskirts of Beijing, 2008). In 2012 he published Het boek Ont (The book Ont) and in 2016 Het compostcirculatieplan (The compost circulation plan), the novel for which he has been awarded with the F. Bordewijk Prize. The jury states: "Gardening is garden warfare in this wonderful novel about friendship and mourning. In superb style Valens shows the effort with which we, season after season, try to get to grips with life - with our feet in the mud, in which we finally all will have to disappear."
(WU 2017)Share this page
Archive available for: Anton Valens
-
The Writers' Fest
With: Aad Meinderts, Alfred Marseille, Anton Valens, Atte Jongstra, Benno Tempel, Charlotte Van den Broeck, Eric Vloeimans, Hassnae Bouazza, Jan Baeke, Joris Wijsmuller, Karin Amatmoekrim, Katinka Polderman, Kees 't Hart, Max Pam
A festive program built around the presentation of the Jan Campert Prizes, the literary awards of the City of The Hague. We celebrate Dutch literature with a variety of performances by writers, poets and musicians. Writer Karin Amatmoekrim gives us her views on "The State of Dutch Letters." Hassnae Bouazza is the MC.
Before Joris Wijsmuller, alderman for Culture of The Hague, hands out the prizes, the audience will determine which of the three middle-school nominees will receive the first young poet prize of The Hague, The Young Campert Award. Afterward, Jan Baeke receives the Jan Campert Prize for his volume of poetry Seizoensroddel ('Season's Gossip'). He is honoured by video-artist Alfred Marseille, who presents a short film. Anton Valens receives the F. Bordewijk Prize for his novel Het Compostcirculatieplan. His laudatio is gevin by stand-up comedian Katinka Polderman. The essay award, the Greshof Prize, goes to Kees 't Hart for Het gelukkige schrijven. Benno Tempel, director of the The Hague Municipal Museum, will honour him in a speech. The afternoon culminates with the presentation of the Constantijn Huygens Prize for a body of work, which will be given to Atte Jongstra this year. Trumpet player Eric Vloeimans will create a musical improvisation to honour him, and Max Pam will honour him in a speech. The young flemish poet Charlotte Van den Broeck will read her poems to us. This event is a collaboration between the Jan Campert Foundation and the Literatuurmuseum. Programme in Dutch.
-
Wintercafé 2: Hold on! Oulipo.
Hold on! Oulipo and the literary restriction: If you play the game, you make the rules. The French OuLiPo company (Ouvroir Littéraire Potentielle, founded in 1960) thought that with self-imposed literary restrictions one could write potentially interesting texts. In which only the e as a vowel would occur, or a poem in which all the letters of the alphabet would recur.This programme, a co-production of Wintertuin (Nijmegen) and festival Winternachten (The Hague) is a tribute to the writers, mathematicians and philosophers of OuLiPo. Four writers, Saskia de Coster, Karin Amamoetkrin, Anton Valens and Joke van Leeuwen were given a restriction by writer/mathematician Hugo Brandt Corstius in Nijmegen. Now the four writers and their 'patron' get together in The Hague to read the results. Meanwhile, all the texts will have been published in a handy-sized booklet – available at Winternachten in a limited edition!
At the end of this hour there is a performance by saxophonist and composer Maarten Ornstein and Joshua Samson (percussion). Ornstein composed music to poems of the South African poet Ronelda Kamfer. In Dutch.
