The P.C. Hooft Award (in Dutch: P.C. Hooft-prijs), inaugurated in 1948, is a

Dutch-language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans' ...

literary lifetime-achievement award named after 17th-century Dutch poet and playwright

Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft (16 March 1581 – 21 May 1647) - Knight in the Order of Saint Michael - was a Dutch historian, poet and playwright who lived during the Dutch Golden Age in literature. Life Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, often abbrevia ...

. The award is made annually.

Background

Established in 1948, initially as an award of the state, winners are selected from alternating categories: prose (fiction), essays (non-fiction) and poetry. Winners of the prize receive . In 1984, the relationship between the State of the Netherlands and the independent Foundation that puts forward the winner came under pressure when the jury nominated columnist

Hugo Brandt Corstius Hugo Brandt Corstius (29 August 1935 – 28 February 2014) was a Dutch author, known for his achievements in both literature and science. In 1970, he was awarded a PhD on the subject of computational linguistics. He was employed at the Mathemat ...

. The Minister of Culture at the time,

Elco Brinkman Leendert Cornelis "Elco" Brinkman (born 5 February 1948) is a retired Dutch politician and businessman who served as Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture from 1982 to 1989 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in 1994. Career ...

, refused to award the prize to Corstius because of Corstius' perceived inappropriate comments against the government and the then Prime Minister

Ruud Lubbers Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (; 7 May 1939 – 14 February 2018) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Refu ...

. As a result of the uproar, the prize was not awarded in 1984, 1985 and 1986. In 1987, with a re-established fully independent committee, the prize was as yet awarded to Corstius.

Award winners

* 1947 – Amoene van Haersolte * 1947 – Arthur van Schendel * 1948 –

A. M. Hammacher A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure o ...

* 1949 –

Gerrit Achterberg Gerrit Achterberg (20 May 1905 – 17 January 1962) was a Dutch poet. His early poetry concerned a desire to be united with a beloved in death. Achterberg was born in Nederlangbroek in the Netherlands as the third son of a family of eight ch ...

* 1950 –

Simon Vestdijk Simon Vestdijk (; 17 October 1898 – 23 March 1971) was a Dutch writer. He was nominated for the Nobel prize in literature fifteen times. Life Born in the small Frisian town of Harlingen, Vestdijk studied medicine in Amsterdam, but turned t ...

* 1951 –

E. J. Dijksterhuis Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis (28 October 1892, in Tilburg – 18 May 1965, in De Bilt) was a Dutch historian of science. Career Dijksterhuis studied mathematics at the University of Groningen from 1911 to 1918. His Ph.d. thesis was entitled "A Contri ...

* 1952 –

J. C. Bloem Jakobus Cornelis (Jacques) Bloem (10 May 1887, Oudshoorn – 10 August 1966, Kalenberg) was a Dutch poet and essayist. Between 1921 and 1958 he published fourteen volumes of poetry. In 1949 he won the Constantijn Huygensprijs, one of the country ...

* 1953 –

Ferdinand Bordewijk Ferdinand Bordewijk (10 October 1884 – 28 April 1965) was a Dutch author. His style, which is terse and symbolic, is considered to belong to New Objectivity and magic realism. He was awarded the P. C. Hooft Award in 1953 and the Constantijn ...

* 1954 – L. J. Rogier * 1955 –

Adriaan Roland Holst Adriaan Roland Holst (Amsterdam, 23 May 1888 – Bergen, North Holland, 5 August 1976) was a Dutch writer, nicknamed the "Prince of Dutch Poets". He was the second winner, in 1948, of the Constantijn Huygens Prize. He was nominated for th ...

* 1956 –

Anna Blaman Anna Blaman, pseudonym of Johanna Petronella Vrugt, (31 January 1905 – 13 July 1960) was a Dutch writer and poet. She was a recipient of the P. C. Hooft Award. The literary award Anna Blaman Prijs is named after her. Biography The daughter ...

* 1957 –

Pieter Geyl Pieter Catharinus Arie Geyl (15 December 1887, Dordrecht – 31 December 1966, Utrecht) was a Dutch historian, well known for his studies in early modern Dutch history and in historiography. Background Geyl was born in Dordrecht and gradua ...

* 1958 – Pierre Kemp * 1959 – not awarded * 1960 –

Victor E. van Vriesland Victor Emanuel van Vriesland (27 October 1892, Haarlem – 29 October 1974, Amsterdam) was a Dutch Jewish writer and critic. Biography He studied at the gymnasium in The Hague and then at the University of Dijon. He was literary and artistic ...

* 1961 – H. W. J. M. Keuls * 1962 –

Theun de Vries Theunis Uilke (Theun) de Vries (26 April 1907 – 21 January 2005), was a Dutch writer and poet. Life De Vries was born in the Frisian town of Feanwâlden. His parents moved to Apeldoorn in 1920. In 1936 he joined the Communist Party of the N ...

* 1963 – F. G. L. van der Meer * 1964 –

Leo Vroman Leo Vroman (April 10, 1915 – February 22, 2014) was a Dutch-American hematologist, a prolific poet mainly in Dutch and an illustrator. Life and work Vroman, who was Jewish, was born in Gouda and studied biology in Utrecht. When the Nazis occ ...

* 1965 – not awarded * 1966 – Anton van Duinkerken * 1967 –

Lucebert Lucebert (; Lubertus Jacobus Swaanswijk; 15 September 1924 – 10 May 1994) was a Dutch artist who first became known as the poet of the COBRA movement. He was born in Amsterdam in 1924. He entered the Institute for Arts and Crafts in 193 ...

* 1968 – Gerard Kornelis van het Reve * 1969 – not awarded * 1970 –

Gerrit Kouwenaar Gerrit Kouwenaar (9 August 1923 – 4 September 2014) was a Dutch journalist, translator, poet and prose writer. Biography Kouwenaar was born in Amsterdam, North Holland. In the early 1940s, during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, he ...

* 1971 –

Willem Frederik Hermans Willem Frederik Hermans (1 September 1921 – 27 April 1995) was a Dutch author of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, as well as book-length studies, essays, and literary criticism. His most famous works are ''The House of Refuge'' (novella, ...

(award refused) * 1972 – Abel J. Herzberg * 1973 –

Hendrik de Vries Hendrik (Henry) de Vries (17 August 1896 in Groningen, Netherlands – 18 November 1989 in Haren, Netherlands) was a significant Dutch poet and painter. He was an early surrealist, was liberal-minded, and preached vitality. The subconscious ...

* 1974 –

Simon Carmiggelt Simon Carmiggelt (7 October 1913 – 30 November 1987) was a Dutch writer, journalist, and poet who became a well known public figure in the Netherlands because of his daily newspaper columns and his television appearances. Biography Simon Johann ...

* 1975 –

Rudy Kousbroek Herman Rudolf "Rudy" Kousbroek (1 November 1929 – 4 April 2010) was a Dutch poet, translator, writer and first of all essayist. He was a prominent figure in Dutch cultural life between 1950 and 2010 and one of the most outspoken atheists in the ...

* 1976 – Remco Campert * 1977 –

Harry Mulisch Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch ( ; 29 July 1927 – 30 October 2010) was a Dutch writer. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems, and philosophical reflections. Mulisch's works have been translated into over thirty languages. Along with W ...

* 1978 –

Cornelis Verhoeven Cornelis Verhoeven (2 February 1928 – 11 June 2001) was a Dutch philosopher and writer. Early life and education Verhoeven was born in Udenhout, the fourth child of seven from a farmer's family in the south of the Netherlands. He attended a ...

* 1979 – Ida Gerhardt * 1980 –

Willem Brakman Willem Pieter Jacobus Brakman (13 June 19228 May 2008) was a Dutch writer who made his literary debut with the novel ''Een winterreis'' in 1961. Brakman received the P. C. Hooft Award in 1980.Karel van het Reve * 1982 –

M. Vasalis M. Vasalis, pseudonym for ''Margaretha (Kiekie) Droogleever Fortuyn-Leenmans'' (13 February 1909 in The Hague – 16 October 1998 in Roden, Drenthe, Roden) was a Dutch poet and psychiatrist. The pseudonym 'Vasalis' is a Latinization of her ...

* 1983 –

Hella S. Haasse Hélène "Hella" Serafia Haasse (2 February 1918 – 29 September 2011) was a Dutch writer, often referred to as the "Grande Dame" of Dutch literature, and whose novel ''Oeroeg'' (1948) was a staple for generations of Dutch schoolchildren. Her ...

* 1984 – not awarded * 1985 – not awarded * 1986 – not awarded * 1987 –

* 1988 – Rutger Kopland * 1989 –

Jan Wolkers Jan Hendrik Wolkers (26 October 1925 – 19 October 2007) was a Dutch author, sculptor and painter. Wolkers is considered by some to be one of the "Great Four" writers of post-World War II Dutch literature, alongside Willem Frederik Hermans, Ha ...

(award refused) * 1990 –

Kees Fens Kees Fens (18 October 1929 in Amsterdam – 14 June 2008) was a Dutch writer, essayist and literary critic.Elisabeth Eybers Elisabeth Françoise Eybers (26 February 1915 – 1 December 2007) was a South African poet. Her poetry was mainly in Afrikaans, although she translated some of her own work (and those of others) into English. Eybers was born in Klerksdorp, ...

* 1992 –

Anton Koolhaas Anthonie "Anton" Koolhaas (16 November 1912 – 16 December 1992) was a Dutch journalist, novelist, and scenario writer. Biography Anthonie Koolhaas was born on 16 November 1912 in Utrecht, Netherlands. He was the son of Teunis Koolhaas and Trij ...

* 1993 – Gerrit Komrij * 1994 –

J. Bernlef Hendrik Jan Marsman (14 January 1937 – 29 October 2012), better known by his pen name, J. Bernlef, was a Dutch writer, poet, novelist and translator, much of whose work centres on mental perception of reality and its expression. He won numerous ...

* 1995 – A. Alberts * 1996 – K. Schippers * 1997 – Judith Herzberg * 1998 –

F. B. Hotz F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distribution, a con ...

* 1999 – Arthur Lehning * 2000 –

Eva Gerlach Eva Gerlach (born April 9, 1948) is a Dutch poet. She also writes under the name Margaret Dijkstra. Biography She was born in Amsterdam. In 1979, she published her first collection of poetry ''Verder geen leed'' (No Further Distress) in 1979. It ...

* 2001 – Gerrit Krol * 2002 –

Sem Dresden Samuel "Sem" Dresden (April 20, 1881 in Amsterdam – July 30, 1957 at The Hague) was a Dutch conductor, composer, and teacher. Life Dresden was born into a Jewish diamond-broking family and initially studied musical theory with Fred Roeske and c ...

* 2003 –

H. H. ter Balkt Herman Hendrik ter Balkt (17 September 1938 – 9 March 2015) was a Dutch poet. He won numerous awards throughout his career, among them the 1988 Jan Campert Prize, the 1998 Constantijn Huygens Prize and the 2003 P. C. Hooft Award. He was born i ...

* 2004 –

Cees Nooteboom Cees Nooteboom (; born 31 July 1933) is a Dutch novelist, poet and journalist. After the attention received by his novel ''Rituelen'' (''Rituals'', 1980), which received the Pegasus Prize, it was the first of his novels to be translated into an ...

* 2005 – Frédéric Bastet * 2006 – H. C. ten Berge * 2007 –

Maarten Biesheuvel Maarten Biesheuvel (23 May 1939 in Schiedam – 30 July 2020 in Leiden) was a Dutch writer of short stories and novellas. He made his literary debut in 1972 with the short story collection ''In de bovenkooi''. He received the "Ferdinand Bordewijk ...

* 2008 – Abram de Swaan * 2009 –

Hans Verhagen Hans Verhagen (3 March 1939 – 10 April 2020) was a Dutch journalist, poet, painter and filmmaker, born in Vlissingen. He gained the P. C. Hooft Award in 2009 "for his humour, his engagement, his poetic daring and whimsy."Charlotte Mutsaers * 2011 – H. J. A. Hofland * 2012 –

Tonnus Oosterhoff Tonnus Oosterhoff (Leiden, 18 March 1953) is a Dutch poet and writer. Biography Born in Leiden, Tonnus Oosterhoff spent most of life in the Dutch province of Groningen. He studied Dutch literature and linguistics at the University of Groningen. ...

* 2013 – A. F. Th. van der Heijden * 2014 –

Willem Jan Otten Willem Jan Otten (born 4 October 1951) is a Dutch prose writer, playwright and poet, who in 2014 won the P. C. Hooft Award for lifetime literary achievement. Biography Otten was born in Amsterdam as the son of the musicians Marijke Ferguson and K ...

* 2015 – Anneke Brassinga * 2016 – Astrid Roemer * 2017 –

Bas Heijne Bastiaan Johan "Bas" Heijne (; born 9 January 1960) is a Dutch writer and translator. Early life and education Bastiaan Johan Heijne was born in Nijmegen in the Netherlands on 9 January 1960. He studied English language and literature at the ...

* 2018 - Nachoem Wijnberg * 2019 - Marga Minco * 2020 - Maxim Februari * 2021 - Alfred Schaffer * 2022 -

Arnon Grunberg Arnon Yasha Yves Grunberg (; born 22 February 1971) is a Dutch writer of novels, essays, and columns, as well as a journalist. He published some of his work under the heteronym Marek van der Jagt. He lives in New York. His work has been transla ...

Schrijver Arnon Grunberg wint P.C. Hooftprijs
(in Dutch), RTL Nieuws, 13 December 2021. Uitreiking van de Staatsprijs voor Letterkunde in het Muiderslot Weeknummer 54-22 - Open Beelden - 30893.ogv, F. Bordewijk (1953) (short film) BlamanPCHooft.jpg,

(1956) KlompeVanDuinkerken.jpg, Anton van Duinkerken (1966) KlompeReve.jpg,

Gerard Reve Gerard Kornelis van het Reve (14 December 1923 – 8 April 2006) was a Dutch writer. He started writing as Simon Gerard van het Reve and adopted the shorter Gerard Reve in 1973. Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he i ...

(1968) Prof. Karel van het Reve ontvangt PC Hooftprijs op Muiderslot Karel van het Rev, Bestanddeelnr 932-1722.jpg, Karel van het Reve (1981) Hugo Brandt Corstius ontvangt PC Hooftprijs 1987 uit handen prof. Dresden (l) vo, Bestanddeelnr 934-2598.jpg,

(1987)

References

External links

Website of the P.C. Hooft Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooft Award 1947 establishments in the Netherlands Articles containing video clips Awards established in 1947 Dutch literary awards Literary awards honoring lifetime achievement