Flemish writer, born in Antwerp, N Belgium. Before engaging in full-time writing he worked as a teacher, art critic, and inspector of public libraries. Regarded as a leading exponent of Magic Realism, a literary movement related to Surrealism, in his early psychological novels a fascination with irrational, obscure relations is already tangible. In his later novels, Terugkeer naar Atlantis (1953, Return to Atlantis) and De komst van Joachim Stiller (1960, The Coming of Joachim Stiller), his style is almost fully in the vein of Magic Realism, linking ordinary elements with dream-like sequences, suggesting relations which cannot be rationally explained. A prolific writer, he was awarded the Flemish State Prize for fiction in 1962.
Selected bibliography
Novels
"Don Juan en de Laatste Nymf" ("Don Juan and the Last Nymph", 1943) "Hélène Defraye" (1945) "Triptiek van de Onvervulde Liefde" ("Triptych of Unrequited Love", 1947) "De Ruiter op de Wolken"
("The Horseman on the Clouds", 1948) "Idomeneia en de Kentaur" ("Idomenea and the Centaur, 1951) "De Belofte aan Rachel" ("The Promise to Rachel", 1952) "Terugkeer naar Atlantis" ("Return to
Atlantis", 1953) "De Duivel en de Maagd" ("The Devil and the Virgin", 1955) "De Komst van Joachim Stiller" ("The Coming of Joachim Stiller", 1960, extended 1978 edition ISBN 0-86874-023-3)
"Hermione betrapt" ("Hermione caught", 1962) "De Heks en de Archeoloog" ("The Witch and the Archaeologist", 1967) "De Goden moeten hun Getal Hebben"/"Kasper in de Onderwereld" ("The Gods must
have their Number"/"Kasper in the Underworld", 1969, second edition 1974 ISBN 90-290-0075-9) "De Vingerafdrukken van Brahma" ("Brahma's Fingerprints", 1972) "Een Geur van Sandelhout" ("An Odour
of Sandlewood", 1976, ISBN 90-290-0562-9) "Wijlen Sarah Silbermann" ("The Late Sarah Silbermann", 1980, ISBN 90-290-1273-0) "Zeg maar Judith" ("Just Say Judith", 1983, ISBN 90-290-1883-6) "De
Eerste Sneeuw van het Jaar" ("The Year's First Snow", 1985, ISBN 90-290-1540-3) "De Elfenkoningin" ("The Elf Queen", 1989, ISBN 90-290-3597-8) "De Verdwaalde Carnavalsvierder" ("The Lost Carnival
Celebrant", 1990, ISBN 90-290-2782-7) "De Man die van Nergens Kwam" ("The Man who Came from Nowhere", 1991, ISBN 90-290-2548-4) "De Geheime Academie" ("The Secret Academy", 1994, ISBN
90-290-4948-0 (Dutch edition), ISBN 90-223-1310-7 (Belgian edition))
Novellas
"Dochters van Lemurië" ("Daughters of Lemuria", 1964)
Short stories
"De Engel en de Juke-box" ("The Angel and the Jukebox", 1978) "Schemertijdmuziek" ("Dusk time music", 1992, ISBN 90-290-2765-7)
Autobiography
"De Draad van Ariadne" ("Ariadne's Thread", 1967);
User Comments Add a comment…