Francine Oomen

(The Netherlands, 1960) was originally an industrial designer. In 1990 she began conceiving, designing, writing and illustrating children's books. Her big breakthrough came with the Hoe overleef ik… (How Can I Survive...) series, which won the Kinderjury Prize nine times in a row, the Young Jury five times, as well as other prizes. The series has 15 parts, and the story has been filmed for TV and the movies, as well as reworked into two successful musicals. An eponymous magazine was successfully published for seven years. For adults, Oomen has written the autobiographical graphic novels Oomen stroomt over (Oomen Overflows) and Hoe overleven we (How Do We Survive), and the poetry collection Gek van liefde (Mad with Love). In 2023 she launched a new series for twentysomethings, Hoe overleef ik alles wat ik niemand vertel? (How Do I Survive Everything I Tell No One?), a huge bestseller that spent weeks at the top of the Top Ten lists.