Erik Jan Willem Menkveld (25 April 1959 – 30 March 2014) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

poet.

Early life

Erik Jan Willem Menkveld was born on 25 April 1959 on in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

, Netherlands. He was an only child

Career

Between 1987 and 1998 Menkveld worked at publishing company

De Bezige Bij De Bezige Bij ("the busy bee") is one of the most important literary publishing companies in the Netherlands. History The company was founded illegally in 1943, during the German occupation of the Netherlands by ; its first publication was a po ...

. In 1995, he published ''Achter het behang'', a Dutch translation of the German work ''Der kleine Erziehungsberater'' by Axel Hacke. In the same year he also published ''Koebeest en vrouwdier''. Menkveld made his debut with poetry collection ''De karpersimulator'' (1997) which was published by De Bezige Bij. He won the

C. Buddingh'-prijs The C. Buddingh'-prijs (Dutch for C. Buddingh' Prize) is an annual literary award for the best debut poetry collection in Dutch. The award is given by Poetry International Web, Poetry International and is named after Dutch poet C. Buddingh'. The ...

for this debut but did not receive the award as Menkveld was working at

Poetry International Poetry International may refer to: * Poetry International Web, a webzine and poetry archive of the Poetry International Foundation * Poetry International Festival, an annual poetry festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands * Poetry International, an annua ...

at the time, the organisation behind the award. Menkveld also won the for ''De karpersimulator''. In 1998 he was also nominated for the

VSB Poetry Prize The VSB Poetry Prize () is the most important Dutch language poetry prize. It was awarded annually to a Dutch-language poet from 1994 until 2018. The prize winner was announced on the day before Poetry Day in the Netherlands, the last Thursday in ...

for this debut. His second poetry collection ''Schapen nu!'' was published by De Bezige Bij in 2001 and his third poetry collection ''Prime time'' followed in 2005, this time published by Van Oorschot.

Recognition and awards

For ''Schapen nu!'' he was nominated for the Hugues C. Pernath-prijs as well as the

J.C. Bloem-poëzieprijs The J.C. Bloem-poëzieprijs (Dutch language, Dutch for J.C. Bloem Poetry Prize) is a biennial Dutch literary award. The award is named after Dutch poet and essayist J. C. Bloem and is awarded to a Netherlands, Dutch or Flanders, Flemisch poet's s ...

. In 2008, he was one of the nominees to become Dichter des Vaderlands, an unofficial title for the poet laureate of the Netherlands, along with

Hagar Peeters According to the Book of Genesis, Hagar is an Egyptian slave, a handmaiden of Sarah (then known as ''Sarai''), whom Sarah gave to her own husband Abram (later renamed Abraham) as a wife to bear him a child. Abraham's firstborn son, through Hagar ...

Joke van Leeuwen Johanna Rutgera "Joke" van Leeuwen (; born 24 September 1952) is a Dutch author, illustrator, and cabaret performer.Ramsey Nasr Ramsey Nasr (born 28 January 1974) is a Dutch author and actor of mixed Palestinian and Dutch descent. He was born in Rotterdam. He was ' (Poet of the Fatherland; an unofficial title for the Dutch poet laureate) between January 2009 and January ...

. Other awards include: * 1998:

, for ''De karpersimulator'' (won, but not awarded) * 1999: Lucy B. en C.W. van der Hoogt-prijs, for ''De karpersimulator'' * 2012: Academica Literatuurprijs, for his 2011 novel ''Het grote zwijgen''

Personal life and death

Menkveld was married to Maria Vlaar. He died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

on 30 March 2014 in Amsterdam. He is buried at

Zorgvlied Zorgvlied () is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Westerveld, and lies about 23 km west of Assen. The municipality received its name by the former villa "Zorgvlied". History From 1819 to 1823 ...

Publications

* ''Briefwisseling met R.N. Roland en H. Roland Holst-Van der Schalk'' (1990) * ''Koebeest en vrouwdier'' (1995) * ''De karpersimulator'' (1997) * ''Honderd jaar Nobelprijspoëzie'' (2000) * ''Schapen nu!'' (2001) * ''Prime time'' (2005) * ''Met de meeste hoogachting'' (2006) * ''Het grote zwijgen'' (2011) * ''Verzamelde gedichten'' (2016)

References

External links

Erik Menkveld
(in Dutch), Digital Library for Dutch Literature {{DEFAULTSORT:Menkveld, Erik 1959 births 2014 deaths Dutch male poets C. Buddingh' Prize winners Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery