Because modern

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

is a

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...

country,Dutch, French and German are legally the three official languages in Belgium, see
Belgium, European Union
/ref> Belgian literature is often treated as a branch of

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than F ...

Dutch literature Dutch language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, Be ...

. Some writing also exists in the

regional language * A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area. Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lan ...

s of Belgium, with published works in both the

Walloon language Walloon (; natively ; french: wallon) is a Romance language that is spoken in much of Wallonia and (to a very small extent) in Brussels, Belgium; some villages near Givet, northern France; and a clutch of communities in northeastern Wisconsin, ...

, closely related to French, and also in various regional

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

or Dutch-related dialects.

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

is the third official language in Belgium and is spoken by a small community of about 70,000 German-speakers of the

German-speaking Community of Belgium The German-speaking Community (german: links=no, Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft, or DG; french: links=no, Communauté germanophone; nl, links=no, Duitstalige Gemeenschap), since 2017 also known as East Belgium (german: links=no, Ostbelgien), is ...

in the border region

Eupen-Malmedy Eupen-Malmedy is a small, predominantly German-speaking region in eastern Belgium. It consists of three administrative cantons around the towns of Eupen, Malmedy, and Sankt Vith which encompass some . Elsewhere in Belgium, the region is common ...

. ''See :de:Belgische_Literatur#Die_deutsche_Literatur_in_Belgien.

Dutch/Flemish writers

* Hendrik Conscience (1812 – 1883), author of '' The Lion of Flanders'' (1838) *

Guido Gezelle Guido Pieter Theodorus Josephus Gezelle (1 May 1830 – 27 November 1899) was an influential writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium. He is famous for the use of the West Flemish dialect. Life Gezelle was born in Bruges in ...

(1830 – 1899), noted for his use of

West Flemish West Flemish (''West-Vlams'' or ''West-Vloams'' or ''Vlaemsch'' (in French-Flanders), nl, West-Vlaams, french: link=no, flamand occidental) is a collection of Dutch dialects spoken in western Belgium and the neighbouring areas of France and ...

dialect * Cyriel Buysse (1859 – 1932) *

Willem Elsschot Alphonsus Josephus de Ridder (7 May 1882 – 31 May 1960), was a Belgian writer and poet who wrote under the pseudonym Willem Elsschot (). One of the most prominent Flemish authors, his most famous work, ''Cheese'' (1933) is the most translated ...

(pseudonym of Alphonsus Josephus de Ridder, 1882 – 1960) *

Marnix Gijsen Marnix Gijsen (20 October 1899 – 29 September 1984) was a Belgian writer. His real name was Joannes Alphonsius Albertus Goris; his pseudonym relates to Marnix van Sint Aldegonde and the surname of his mother (Gijsen). Early years Gijsen ...

(pen name of Joannes Alphonsius Albertus Goris, 1899 – 1984) *

Louis Paul Boon Louis Paul Boon (15 March 1912, in Aalst – 10 May 1979, in Erembodegem) was a Belgian writer of novels, poetry, pornography, columns and art criticism. He was also a painter. He is best known for the novels ''My Little War'' (1947), the diptych ...

(1912 – 1979) *

Hugo Claus Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (; 5 April 1929 – 19 March 2008) was a leading Belgian literature, Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, the novel, a ...

(1929 – 2008) *

Jef Geeraerts Jozef Adriaan Anna Geeraerts (23 February 1930 – 11 May 2015), better known as Jef Geeraerts, was a Belgian writer. Geeraerts was born in Antwerp. After his studies in political and administrative sciences at the Colonial University of Belgiu ...

(1930 – 2015) * Eric de Kuyper (born 1942) * Herman de Coninck (1944 – 1997) poet *

Herman Brusselmans Herman Frans Martha Brusselmans (; born 9 October 1957) is a Belgian novelist, poet, playwright and columnist. He lives in Ghent. He is one of the best-selling authors in Flanders, but controversial at the same time for his profane language and ...

(born 1957) * Tom Lanoye (born 1958) *

Erwin Mortier Erwin Mortier (born 28 November 1965) is a Dutch-language Belgian author. Spending his youth in Hansbeke, he later moved to nearby Ghent, where he became city poet (2005–2006). He wrote as a columnist for newspapers like '' De Morgen'' and ...

(born 1965) *

Dimitri Verhulst Dimitri Verhulst (born 2 October 1972) is a Belgian writer and poet. He is best known for his novels ''Problemski Hotel'' and ''The Misfortunates''. Biography Verhulst was an unwanted child in a violent home and spent his later childhood in a f ...

(born 1972)

Belgian literature in French

Nicolas Ancion Nicolas Ancion is a Belgian writer born in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, in 1971. His parents were professional puppeteers. Writer He writes fiction for adults, young adults and children and is the author of several theater plays and poetry collec ...

Charles De Coster Charles-Theodore-Henri De Coster (20 August 1827 – 7 May 1879) was a Belgian novelist whose efforts laid the basis for a native Belgian literature. Early life and education He was born in Munich; his father, Augustin De Coster, was a nativ ...

Michel de Ghelderode Michel de Ghelderode (born Adémar Adolphe Louis Martens, 3 April 1898 – 1 April 1962) was an avant-garde Belgian dramatist, from Flanders, who spoke and wrote in French. His works often deal with the extremes of human experience, from death an ...

André-Paul Duchâteau André-Paul Duchâteau (8 May 1925 – 26 August 2020) was a Belgian comics writer and mystery novelist. Biography He worked with Tibet on the detective comics series ''Ric Hochet'' and the more humoristic western comic '' Chick Bill''. He also ...

Maurice Grevisse Maurice Grevisse (;Maurice Grevisse about the pronunciation of his name, http://www.ina.fr/video/CPB08008704/maurice-grevisse-video.html 7 October 1895 – 4 July 1980) was a Belgian grammarian. Biography Born in Rulles, a small village in the ...

* Georges Simenon * Alain Le Bussy * Francis Baudouin * Suzanne Lilar *

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in ...

* Thierry Martens *

Pierre Mertens Pierre Mertens (born 9 October 1939) is a Belgian French-speaking writer and lawyer who specializes in international law, director of the Centre de sociologie de la littérature at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and literary critic with the ...

* Henri Michaux *

Amélie Nothomb Baroness Fabienne Claire Nothomb (), better known by her pen name Amélie Nothomb (; born 13 August 1967),''État présent de la noblesse belge'', éditions of 1979, 1995 and 2010. Her birth is announced in n° 87, aout 1967, p. 340 of the ''Bull ...

* Jean Ray aka John Flanders for his works in Dutch * J.H. Rosny and J.-H. Rosny aîné & J.-H. Rosny jeune * Stanislas-André Steeman *

Jean-Philippe Toussaint Jean-Philippe Toussaint (29 November 1957, Brussels) is a Belgian novelist, photographer and filmmaker. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages and he has had his photographs displayed in Brussels and Japan. Toussaint won ...

Emile Verhaeren Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

Henri Vernes Charles-Henri-Jean Dewisme (16 October 1918 – 25 July 2021), better known by his pen name Henri Vernes (), was an author of action and science fiction novels. He published over 200 titles in the action and science-fiction genre. He was most ...

* Arthur Xhignesse *

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

Francophone literature Francophone literature is literature written in the French language. The existence of a plurality of literatures in the French language has been recognised, although the autonomy of these literatures is less defined than the plurality of literat ...

Belgian French Belgian French (french: français de Belgique) is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside related Oïl languages of the region such as Walloon, Picard, Champenois, and Lorrain (Gaumais). The Frenc ...

French Community of Belgium In Belgium, the French Community (french: Communauté française; ) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (french: Féd� ...

Belgian literature in Walloon

Literature in Walloon has been printed since the 16th century or at least since the beginning of the 17th century. Its golden age was in the 19th century: 'That period saw an efflorescence of Walloon literature, plays and poems primarily, and the founding of many theaters and periodicals.' Yves Quairiaux counted 4800 plays for 1860–1914, published or not. In this period plays were almost the only popular show in Wallonia. But this theater remains popular in present-day Wallonia: Theatre is still flourishing with over 200 non-professional companies playing in the cities and villages of Wallonia for an audience of over 200,000 each year. Jacques Ancion wanted to develop a regular adult audience. This regional literature most commonly deals with local folklore and ancient traditions, the most prominent Walloon author being Arthur Masson. * Charles-Nicolas Simonon (1774-1847): "Li Côparèye" (1822) * Nicolas Defrecheux (1825-1874): "Lèyîs-m'plorer" (Let me weep, 1854) * Edward Remouchamps (1836-1900) wrote the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

theater piece "Tatî l'pèriquî" (Gautier, the barber, 1885) * Salme Dieudonné: the novel "Li Houlot" (The cadet, 1888) * Willame Georges (1863-1917), sonnets * François Renkin (1872-1906), stylized prose * Henri Simon (1856-1939): "Li Mwert di l'abe" (The death of the tree, 1909) and "Li pan dè bon Dieu" (The Bread of the Good Lord, 1914) * Jules Claskin (1884-1926), poetry * Laloux Auguste (1908-1976): "Li p'tit Bêrt", written before 1940, published in 1963 * Geo Libbrecht (1891-1976): poetry, "Les cloques / Les cleokes (1964)."

External links

Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library Antwerp
for Flemish and French literature in Belgium

Notes and references