Bart Peter Boudewijn Moeyaert (born 9 June 1964) is a Belgian writer.

Early life

Moeyaert was born in 1964 in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

as the youngest of seven brothers. He is named after the character

Bartje Bartje Bartels is the main character in a series of Dutch books written by Anne de Vries from 1935 on. Bartje is a boy who lives with his poor family in the countryside of Drenthe. His parents want him to become a farmer like his father, but Bartj ...

in the book series by

Anne de Vries Anne de Vries (22 May 1904 – 29 November 1964) was a Dutch teacher and writer, particularly famous in the Netherlands for his novels of regional life. Born in the village of Kloosterveen near Assen, de Vries married Alida Gerdina van Wermeske ...

and after

Baudouin of Belgium Baudouin (;, ; nl, Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Maria Gustaaf, ; german: Balduin Albrecht Karl Leopold Axel Maria Gustav. 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993), Dutch name Boudewijn, was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his de ...

(Boudewijn). As is tradition in Belgium, King Baudouin of Belgium is his godfather as Moeyaert is the seventh son in an unbroken succession of sons.

Career

Writing

Moeyaert made his debut in 1983 with the book ''Duet met valse noten''. Moeyaert received the Prijs van de Kinder- en Jeugdjury voor het boek in Vlaanderen award for this book in 1984. In 1989, he published the book ''Suzanne Dantine'' which he considers to be his real debut with him transitioning from writer to author. Moeyaert later reworked the story into a new book '' Wespennest'' (1997). In 1992, he won the

Boekenleeuw The Boekenleeuw is a Flemish literary award for the best book in children's literature by a Flemish author. History The ''Referendumprijs voor Vlaamse kinder- en jeugdboeken'' award was established in 1962. In 1986 this award was replaced b ...

award for his book ''Kus me'' and in 1993 he won the Prijs van de Provincie Antwerpen and the Prijs van de Provincie West-Vlaanderen awards for this book. In 1995, he published the book ''Blote handen''; he received numerous awards for this book in the following years, including the

(1996), the

Zilveren Griffel The Gouden Griffel (Golden Stylus) is an award given to authors of children's or teenagers' literature in the Netherlands. History Since 1971, it is awarded each year during the Dutch Children's Books Week, by the Stichting Collectieve Prop ...

(1996), Prijs van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap voor Jeugdliteratuur (1998),

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

(1998), Norske Oversetterpremien (1998), Vlaamse Cultuurprijs voor Jeugdliteratuur (1998) and the Interprovinciale Prijs Letterkunde (1999). In 2013, he won the Prijs Letterkunde van de Provincie West-Vlaanderen together with

Gerda Dendooven Gerda Dendooven (born 10 May 1962) is a Belgian illustrator. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Gouden Uil, the Woutertje Pieterse Prijs and the Boekenpauw on several occasions. Early life Dendooven was born in 1962 in ...

and Sabine Clement. Moeyaert's work has been translated into numerous languages. His works range from picture books and YA literature to essays. Bart has also written screenplays for television and movies as well as poetry, song lyrics, and plays professionally.

Children's literature

In 2001 he was awarded the

Woutertje Pieterse Prijs The Woutertje Pieterse Prijs (Dutch for Woutertje Pieterse Prize) is an annual Dutch literary award for the best children's book of the preceding year. History The award was first given in 1988. The award is awarded annually in March or A ...

for his book ''Broere''. The book is a collection of short stories about himself, his brothers, his parents and his childhood. The jury praised Moeyaert for combining autobiographical elements with childhood reflections and a dose of irony. The first edition of the book consisted of 31 stories; this grew to 42 stories in the second edition (2002) and to 49 stories in the third edition (2017). In 2001, he also won the

Gouden Uil The Golden Book-Owl (De Gouden Boekenuil) is a Belgian prize for original Dutch language literature. Originally it was named Golden Owl (De Gouden Uil). It has been awarded annually since 1995. Development It has changed categories several times d ...

for the book ''Luna van de boom'' with

and Filip Bral. In 2006, he won the 2005 Nienke van Hichtum-prijs for his book ''Dani Bennoni''. In 2019, he won the

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award ( sv, Litteraturpriset till Astrid Lindgrens minne) is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907–200 ...

. The jury praised Moeyaert for his "compressed and musical literary language" as well as his ability to "put complex relationships under the loupe" without "drawing easy lines between good and evil". In 2019, he also won the

award for the book ''Tegenwoordig heet iedereen Sorry''. In 2020, he was on the shortlist for the

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

for the third time but he did not win the award.

Poetry

In 2003, he made his debut as poet with ''Verzamel de liefde''. On 26 January 2006 ( Gedichtendag 2006) he became the poet of the city of Antwerp for a period of two years. He wrote 18 poems related to life in the city of Antwerp and they were published in his second collection of poems ''Gedichten voor gelukkige mensen''. Some of these poems are also on public display, including in the Permeke Library and the

Vlaamse Opera The Vlaamse Opera (Flemish Opera) is an opera company in Belgium directed by Jan Vandenhouwe which operates in two different opera houses in two Flemish cities, the Vlaamse Opera Antwerp at Van Ertbornstraat 8 and the Vlaamse Opera Ghent at Schouwbu ...

. In 2009, he was nominated for the

J.C. Bloem-poëzieprijs The J.C. Bloem-poëzieprijs (Dutch language, Dutch for J.C. Bloem Poetry Prize) is a biennial Dutch literary award. The award is named after Dutch poet and essayist J. C. Bloem and is awarded to a Netherlands, Dutch or Flanders, Flemisch poet's s ...

for this work.

References

External links

Official website

Bart Moeyaert

Nederlands Letterenfonds The Nederlands Letterenfonds ("Dutch Foundation for Literature") is a Dutch organization that promotes Dutch literature at home and abroad. The Letterenfonds represents Dutch authors at such events as the Frankfurt Book Fair, and awards a number of ...

(Dutch Foundation for Literature)
Bart Moeyaert
(in Dutch), schrijversgewijs.be
Bart Moeyaert
(in Dutch), jeugdliteratuur.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Moeyaert, Bart 1964 births Flemish poets Flemish translators Woutertje Pieterse Prize winners Living people Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winners Boekenleeuw winners Nienke van Hichtum Prize winners 20th-century Belgian writers 21st-century Belgian writers