Jan Eijkelboom

(1926, Ridderkerk). In 1945, shortly after the liberation of The Netherlands, he joined the Dutch army. In the next five years he takes part in the Dutch colonial war in Indonesia. Its horrors he afterwards suppresses, instead of trying to digest the experiences. Back in The Netherlands, he starts his studies English and Political Science. He becomes the editor of Propria Cures when Aad Nuis and Renate Rubintsein also wrote for it. In 1957 he joins the editorial staff of Tirade. Two years later he becomes vice principal editor in chief of Vrij Nederland for which he already worked as a journalist. He also wrties for De Dordtenaar and Het Vrije Volk. He starts writing poetry when under psychotherapeutic treatment (in relation to his Indonesian experiences). In 1980 the collection Wat blijft komt nooit terug (What remains never returns) appears, in 1983 he is awarded the Herman Gorter Prize for his collection De gouden Man (The Golden Man). He died in 2008.