Henk van Woerden (; 6 December 1947 – 16 November 2005) was a Dutch painter and writer with close ties to South Africa.

Biography

He was born in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

. In 1956 he emigrated with his family to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa. Van Woerden matriculated in 1964 at the Fine Arts faculty of the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. After three years he broke off his studies and moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. After extensive travelling in Europe, and a stay on

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, he started his artistic career first as painter based in the Dutch capital. He received the Royal Award for Painting in 1980, and represented the country at international exhibitions. In the 80's the focus of his artistic work shifted to writing. The first books are part of his South African trilogy, beginning with ''Moenie kyk nie'' (Don't Look, 1993) and ''Tikoes'' (1996). Followed by ''Een mond vol Glas'' (1998) which found critical acclaim by renowned South African writers as

Breyten Breytenbach Breyten Breytenbach (; 16 September 193924 November 2024) was a South African writer, poet, and painter. He became internationally well-known as a dissident poet and vocal critic of South Africa under apartheid, and as a political prisoner of ...

J.M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee Order of Australia, AC Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL Order of Mapungubwe, OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African and Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, and translator. The recipient of the 2003 ...

André Brink André Philippus Brink (29 May 1935 – 6 February 2015) was a South African novelist, essayist and poet. He wrote in both Afrikaans and English and taught English at the University of Cape Town. In the 1960s Brink, Ingrid Jonker, Etienne Lerou ...

, and won the 2001

Alan Paton Award The ''Sunday Times'' CNA Literary Awards are awarded annually to South African writers by the South African weekly newspaper the ''Sunday Times''. They comprise the ''Sunday Times'' CNA Literary Award for Non-fiction and the ''Sunday Times'' ...

. It is a biography of Dimitri Tsafendas who assassinated South African president Dr

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966), also known as H. F. Verwoerd, was a Dutch-born South African politician, scholar in applied psychology, philosophy, and sociology, and newspaper editor who was Prime Mini ...

, in the House of Assembly in 1966, was declared insane, and held in prison until he died in 1999. In 2000 Dan Jacobson edited and translated the book into English as '' A Mouthful of Glass'' or ''The assassin: a story of race and rage in the land of Apartheid'' (American edition). ''A Mouthful of Glass'' was later used as the basis for the 2003 stage play '' I.D.'' This trilogy was followed by ''Notities van een luchtfietser'' (Notes from an Air Cyclist, 2002), about travelling in realty as in the mind, and ''Ultramarijn'' (Ultramarine, 2005) which would turn out to be his last work. His books have been translated into more than ten languages. Henk van Woerden died in November 2005 of a heart attack in

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, Michigan, where he stayed as Writer-in-Residence for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Bibliography

In Dutch: *''Moenie kyk nie'', 1993 *''Tikoes'', 1996 *''Een mond vol glas'', 1998 *''Notities van een luchtfietser'', 2002 *''Ultramarijn'', 2005 In English: *'' A Mouthful of Glass'', 2000,

References

External links

Uitgeverij Podium: Henk van Woerden Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature – Biography and bibliographyGRANTA – Henk van Woerden's publisher in English
1947 births 2005 deaths Dutch male writers Painters from Leiden Michaelis School of Fine Art alumni Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters 20th-century Dutch male artists {{Netherlands-painter-stub