Luuk Gruwez (born 9 August 1953) is a
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 ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...
. Since 1976, he lives in
Hasselt
Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as ...
, where he worked until 1995 as a teacher.
Gruwez was born at
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
It is the capital and larges ...
. He attended high school there at the ''Damiaancollege'' and graduated in Germanic philology at the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. In 1976 he moved from
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
It is the capital and larges ...
to
Hasselt
Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as ...
. He earns a living as a teacher there until his career break in 1995 after being granted a scholarship as a writer.
Gruwez' work is sometimes considered to belong to the
neoromantic movement in response to the
new realism
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
of the 60s, with its typical emphasis on the emotions of life, love, disease, decay and death. But in Luuk Gruwez' work this kind of romance is always tempered by a portion of (self)
irony.
In his later poetry the subject matter is broader and his style becomes more narrative. He is now a full-time writer of poetry and prose as well as columns, appearing weekly in ''
De Standaard
''De Standaard'' (meaning ''The Standard'' in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and F ...
'' and monthly from 2001 to 2003 in ''
De Morgen
''De Morgen'' ( Dutch for ''The Morning'') is a Flemish newspaper with a circulation of 53,860. The paper is published in Antwerp, Belgium.
History and profile
''De Morgen'' originates from a merger in 1978 of two socialist newspapers ' (meani ...
''.
In 1995 he received the
Hugues C. Pernath-prijs. In 2009 he received the
Herman de Coninckprijs
Herman may refer to:
People
* Herman (name), list of people with this name
* Saint Herman (disambiguation)
* Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman
Places in the United States
* Herman, Arkansas
* Herman, Michigan
* Herman, Minne ...
for his poem "Moeders" from ''Lagerwal''. and Jessa Wildemeersch composed music for these nominated poems.
Bibliography
* Stofzuigergedichten (1973)
* Ach, wat zacht geliefkoos om een mild verdriet (1977)
* Daar komen de Tachtigers al aan (1977)
* Een huis om dakloos in te zijn (1981)
* De feestelijke verliezer (1985)
* Dikke mensen (1990)
* Onder vier ogen (1992)
* Het bal van opa Bing (1994)
* Vuile manieren (1994)
* Bandeloze gedichten (1996)
* Het land van de wangen (1998)
* Slechte gedachten (1999)
* Dieven en geliefden (2000)
* De maand van Marie. Vier vrouwenvertellingen (2002)
* Een stenen moeder (2004)
* Allemansgek, incl. CD (2005)
* Psilo (2007), verhalen
* Lagerwal (2008), poëzie
* Garderobe (2010), bloemlezing uit zijn poëzie
* Cosas perdidas (2010), poëzie
* Krombeke Retour/ Deerlijk Retour (2011), verhalen.
See also
*
Flemish literature Flemish literature is literature from Flanders, historically a region comprising parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Until the early 19th century, this literature was regarded as an integral part of Dutch literature. After Bel ...
Sources
*
Luuk Gruwez* Willem M. Roggeman, ''Luuk Gruwez'' In: Beroepsgeheim 6 (1992)
* G.J. van Bork en P.J. Verkruijsse, De Nederlandse en Vlaamse auteurs (1985)
1953 births
Flemish poets
Living people
20th-century Belgian writers
{{Belgium-poet-stub