Wanda Daniela Reisel Muller (born in
Willemstad
Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...
,
Curaçao
Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela.
Curaçao includ ...
, on November 24, 1955) is a Dutch writer.
Reisel was awarded the
Anna Bijns Prize
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654)
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th ce ...
and her works has been nominated for other awards.
Life
She is the daughter of
Jacques Jacob Hirsch Reisel
Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...
(1915-1976) and Emma Henny Elisabeth Reisel-Muller (1921-2002).
She is
Max Reisel
Max Reisel (Amsterdam, April 25, 1913 - Jerusalem, 1989) was a Dutch semiticist (of Jewish descent) and a teacher at the Montessori education, Montessori Lyceum Rotterdam. He strove in the dissemination of knowledge about Judaism in general and He ...
's niece. Her Jewish parents had emigrated to
Willemstad
Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...
island in 1948 for fear of the Cold War and returned to Amsterdam in 1960 and she grew up in
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 ...
in an anarcho-liberal doctors' family with six children (father internist, mother nurse).
After elementary school (1968-1974) Reisel briefly studied history, and after a year and a half she enrolled in the directing course at the
drama school
A drama school, stage school, or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or Academic department, department at a college or university, or a free-standing institution (such as the drama section at the Juilliard School) that ...
, at Stage Directing at
Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten
The Amsterdam University of the Arts () is a Dutch institute for higher professional education located in Amsterdam.
The university consists of:
* Academy of Architecture
* Academy of Theatre and Dance
* Breitner Academy - education in arts
* ...
. She knew from an early age that she wanted to become a writer. She completed this training in 1981. Since then she has written a dozen plays, collected under the title ''Tien stuks''.
Her first published novel is ''Het blauwe uur'' (The
Blue Hour
The blue hour (from French ; ) is the period of twilight (in the morning or evening, around the nautical stage) when the Sun is at a significant depth below the horizon. During this time, the remaining sunlight takes on a mostly blue shade. Th ...
, translated in German as ''Die Blaue Stunde'').
In addition to prose and drama, Reisel also writes film and television scripts and radio plays. Reisel has been a good friend of
Herman Koch
Herman Koch (; born 5 September 1953) is a Dutch writer and actor. He has written short stories, novels, and columns. His best-selling novel '' The Dinner'' (2009) has been translated into 21 languages. He has acted for radio, television, and fi ...
for many years.
Awards
Reisel made her debut as a prose writer in 1986 with ''Jacobi's tocht'' (two novellas). Her first novel ''Het blauwe uur'' appeared in 1988. She became known to a wider audience in 1997 thanks to the nomination of ''Baby Storm'' (1996) for the
Libris Literature Prize. Her next novel, ''Een man een man'' (2000), was also shortlisted for the Libris Literature Prize, in 2001. The novel ''Witte liefde'' was nominated for the
AKO Literature Prize and was awarded the Anna Bijns Prize.
Her theater plays have been performed by Toneelgroep Baal and Discordia, and directed by Gerardjan Rijnders among others.
References
External links
Persoonlijke website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reisel, Wanda
1955 births
Living people
Dutch women writers