Peter Verhelst

(Belgium, 1962) is an award-winning novelist, poet, and playwright. Since 2006 he has worked with NTGent as a theatre director. Verhelst debuted in 1987 with the poetry collection Obsidiaan (Obsidian). His first novel Vloeibaar harnas (Liquid Armour) followed in 1993. His breakthrough came with Tongkat in 1999. Verhelst frequently refers to other writings, (visual) art, and reality. He is often considered an aesthete because of his poetic language. Zwerm: geschiedenis van de wereld (Swarm: The history of the world, 2005) marked a turning point. In it, he referred to current issues and replaced exuberant metaphor with sober expression. His poetry volume Wij totale vlam (Us Total Blaze, 2014) was awarded the Ida Gerhardt Poetry Prize. In this collection, people return from the moon, or they see birds dive into a lake and write words on the underside of the water's surface. His novel Voor het vergeten (Before forgetting, 2018), written after his mother's sudden death, he witnesses his father's mourning, tries to find his way with stories and memories, and opens new worlds featuring deer, works of art, cats and Japanese gardens. His poetry collections Zon (Sun, 2019) and 2050 (2021), seem to take a new turn towards broader landscapes, visions of the future, and social positioning. He was awarded the 2021 Constantijn Huygens Prize for his oevre. The novella Lichamen (Bodies), a "passionate declaration of love for language", comes out in January 2022.