Maxim Februari, pseudonym of Maximiliaan (Max) Drenth (born 23 February 1963), is a Dutch writer, philosopher and columnist.

Life and work

Februari studied law, philosophy and history of art at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

. His first novel (''De zonen van het uitzicht''), for which he received the ''Multatuli Prize'', was published in 1989. Februari's next novel ''The Book Club'' (Dutch: ''De literaire kring'') was published in 2007. He wrote

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

for two leading Dutch newspapers,

de Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...

and

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis NRC. It is widely regarded as a newspaper of record in the country. History was first published on 1 October 1970 after a merger of the Amst ...

''. Februari published a highly original dissertation at

Tilburg University Tilburg University is a Catholic research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg, Netherlands. Tilburg has a student population of about 19,1 ...

in 2000. This book (''Een pruik van paardenhaar & Over het lezen van een boek, Amartya Sen en de Onmogelijkheid van de Paretiaanse liberaal'') was a combination of a scientific book and a novel, both on economics and on ethics –and published under two names: M. Februari & Marjolijn Drenth. In 2008 Februari received the ''Frans Kellendonk Prize'', a Dutch literary award. Februari gave the 2011 Mosse Lecture, titled ''Wat is seks eigenlijk?'' (''What exactly is sex?'').

Gender transitioning

Newspaper NRC-Handelsblad announced in September 2012 that their columnist Marjolijn Februari would from then on publish under the name Maxim Februari, because of his gender transitioning. Februari published ''The Making of a Man. Notes on Transsexuality'' (Dutch: ''De maakbare man. Notities over transseksualiteit'') in 2013.

Publications in English

* Maxim Februari: ''The Making of a Man. Notes on Transsexuality''. (Transl. by Andy Brown). London, Reaktion Books, 2015. * Marjolijn Februari: ''The Book Club''. (Transl. by Paul Vincent). London, Quercus, 2011. * ''Globalisation and Human Dignity. Sources and Challenges in Catholic Social Thought''. An essay by Marjolijn Drenth von Februar, with contrib. by Wim van de Donk nd others Budel, Damon, 2004.

References

External links

*
Februari @dbnl

A brief summary (in Dutch) of a three-hour interview by the dutch program 'Zomergasten':
{{DEFAULTSORT:Februari, Maxim 1963 births 20th-century Dutch novelists 20th-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch novelists 21st-century Dutch male writers Dutch columnists Dutch LGBTQ novelists Living people People from Coevorden Tilburg University alumni Transgender male writers Transgender novelists Utrecht University alumni Dutch transgender men Dutch male novelists 20th-century Dutch LGBTQ people 21st-century Dutch LGBTQ people