Marie Gevers (30 December 1883 – 9 March 1975) was a Belgian novelist who wrote in the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

. She was born in

Edegem Edegem (, first mentioned as ''Buizegem'' in 1173) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Edegem proper. In 2021, Edegem had a total population of 22,244. The total area is 8.65&n ...

, near

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. Educated by her mother, she had a special interest in literature. Very early in life, she composed bucolic

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, encouraged by Verhaeren. Married in 1908 to Jan Frans Willems and mother of Paul Willems, she dedicated her entire life to her family. In fact, one of the distinctive traits of her poetry was the love of her origins and familial roots. In 1917 her first anthology, ''Missenbourg'', was published. Later, around 1930, she began to focus on writing in

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

: ''Madame Orpha ou la sérénade de mai'' (1933), ''Guldentop'' (1934) and ''La ligne de vie'' (1937) continue this constant interest in the little people and life in Antwerp. Marie Gevers was the first woman to be elected to the

Académie Royale de Langue et de Littérature Françaises de Belgique The (; 'Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium') or ARLLFB is a Belgian institution which brings together personalities who, through their works, writings, lectures or speeches, have contributed most eminently to the illustra ...

(Royal Academy of French Language and Literature in Belgium) in 1938. In 1960, she was awarded the grand quinquennial Prize for French Literature. She died on 9 March 1975.

Bibliography

* ''Paix sur les champs'', roman, Éd. Jacques Antoine, Bruxelles, 1976. * ''Plaisir des météores'', Éd. Jacques Antoine, Bruxelles, 1978. * ''Vie et mort d'un étang'', Éd. Jacques Antoine, Bruxelles, 1979. * ''Madame Orpha ou la sérénade de mai'', roman, Éd. Jacques Antoine, Bruxelles, 1981. * ''La ligne de vie'', roman, Éd. Jacques Antoine, Bruxelles, 1983. * ''La comtesse des digues'', roman, Éd. Labor, Bruxelles, 1983, coll. Espace Nord. * ''Oeuvres poétiques'', poésie, Ed. Le Cri, coll. Terre Neuve, 2004.

Sources

Marie Gevers
(Dutch)

(French) 1883 births 1975 deaths Belgian poets in French Belgian women novelists People from Edegem 20th-century Belgian novelists 20th-century Belgian poets Belgian women poets 20th-century Belgian women writers Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique {{novelist-stub