Because modern

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

is a

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

country,Dutch, French and German are legally the three official languages in Belgium, see
Belgium, European Union
/ref> Belgian literature is often treated as a branch of French literature or Dutch literature. Some writing also exists in the regional languages of Belgium, with published works in both the

Walloon language Walloon (; natively ; french: wallon) is a Romance language that is spoken in much of Wallonia and (to a very small extent) in Brussels, Belgium; some villages near Givet, northern France; and a clutch of communities in northeastern Wisconsin, ...

, closely related to French, and also in various regional

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

or Dutch-related dialects.

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

is the third official language in Belgium and is spoken by a small community of about 70,000 German-speakers of the

German-speaking Community of Belgium The German-speaking Community (german: links=no, Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft, or DG; french: links=no, Communauté germanophone; nl, links=no, Duitstalige Gemeenschap), since 2017 also known as East Belgium (german: links=no, Ostbelgien), is ...

in the border region Eupen-Malmedy. ''See :de:Belgische_Literatur#Die_deutsche_Literatur_in_Belgien.

Dutch/Flemish writers

Hendrik Conscience Henri (Hendrik) Conscience (3 December 1812 – 10 September 1883) was a Belgian author. He is considered the pioneer of Dutch-language literature in Flanders, writing at a time when Belgium was dominated by the French language among the upper cl ...

(1812 – 1883), author of ''

The Lion of Flanders Robert III (1249 – 17 September 1322), also called Robert of Béthune and nicknamed The Lion of Flanders (''De Leeuw van Vlaanderen''), was the Count of Nevers from 1273 and Count of Flanders from 1305 until his death. History Robert was the o ...

'' (1838) * Guido Gezelle (1830 – 1899), noted for his use of West Flemish dialect * Cyriel Buysse (1859 – 1932) * Willem Elsschot (pseudonym of Alphonsus Josephus de Ridder, 1882 – 1960) *

Marnix Gijsen Marnix Gijsen (20 October 1899 – 29 September 1984) was a Belgian writer. His real name was Joannes Alphonsius Albertus Goris; his pseudonym relates to Marnix van Sint Aldegonde and the surname of his mother (Gijsen). Early years Gijsen w ...

(pen name of Joannes Alphonsius Albertus Goris, 1899 – 1984) * Louis Paul Boon (1912 – 1979) * Hugo Claus (1929 – 2008) *

Jef Geeraerts Jozef Adriaan Anna Geeraerts (23 February 1930 – 11 May 2015), better known as Jef Geeraerts, was a Belgian writer. Geeraerts was born in Antwerp. After his studies in political and administrative sciences at the Colonial University of Belgium ...

(1930 – 2015) *

Eric de Kuyper Eric de Kuyper (born 2 September 1942) is a Flemish-Belgian and Dutch writer, semiologist, art critic, and experimental film director. Fictionalized autobiographical novels, written in the 3rd-person, account for most of his creative work. His ...

(born 1942) * Herman de Coninck (1944 – 1997) poet * Herman Brusselmans (born 1957) *

Tom Lanoye Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

(born 1958) *

Erwin Mortier Erwin Mortier (born 28 November 1965) is a Dutch-language Belgian author. Spending his youth in Hansbeke, he later moved to nearby Ghent, where he became city poet (2005–2006). He wrote as a columnist for newspapers like ''De Morgen'' and pub ...

(born 1965) * Dimitri Verhulst (born 1972)

Belgian literature in French

Nicolas Ancion Nicolas Ancion is a Belgian writer born in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, in 1971. His parents were professional puppeteers. Writer He writes fiction for adults, young adults and children and is the author of several theater plays and poetry collect ...

Charles De Coster Charles-Theodore-Henri De Coster (20 August 1827 – 7 May 1879) was a Belgian novelist whose efforts laid the basis for a native Belgian literature. Early life and education He was born in Munich; his father, Augustin De Coster, was a nati ...

* Michel de Ghelderode * André-Paul Duchâteau *

Maurice Grevisse Maurice Grevisse (;Maurice Grevisse about the pronunciation of his name, http://www.ina.fr/video/CPB08008704/maurice-grevisse-video.html 7 October 1895 – 4 July 1980) was a Belgian grammarian. Biography Born in Rulles, a small village in the p ...

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Early life and education ...

* Alain Le Bussy * Francis Baudouin *

Suzanne Lilar Baroness Suzanne Lilar (née ''Suzanne Verbist''; 21 May 1901 – 11 December 1992) was a Flemish Belgian essayist, novelist, and playwright writing in French. She was the wife of the Belgian Minister of Justice Albert Lilar and mother of the ...

* Maurice Maeterlinck * Thierry Martens *

Pierre Mertens Pierre Mertens (born 9 October 1939) is a Belgian French-speaking writer and lawyer who specializes in international law, director of the Centre de sociologie de la littérature at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and literary critic with the ...

Henri Michaux Henri Michaux (; 24 May 1899 – 19 October 1984) was a Belgian-born French poet, writer and painter. Michaux is renowned for his strange, highly original poetry and prose, and also for his art: the Paris Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim ...

Amélie Nothomb Baroness Fabienne Claire Nothomb (), better known by her pen name Amélie Nothomb (; born 13 August 1967),''État présent de la noblesse belge'', éditions of 1979, 1995 and 2010. Her birth is announced in n° 87, aout 1967, p. 340 of the ''Bull ...

* Jean Ray aka John Flanders for his works in Dutch * J.H. Rosny and

J.-H. Rosny aîné J.-H. Rosny aîné was the pseudonym of Joseph Henri Honoré Boex (17 February 1856 – 11 February 1940), a French author of Belgian origin who is considered one of the founding figures of modern science fiction. Born in Brussels in 1856, he w ...

J.-H. Rosny jeune J.-H. Rosny jeune was the pseudonym of Séraphin Justin François Boex (July 21, 1859 – July 21, 1948), a French author of Belgian origin who, along with his better known older brother J.-H. Rosny aîné, is considered one of the founding fi ...

Stanislas-André Steeman Stanislas-Andre Steeman (Liège on 23 January 1908 – Menton on 15 December 1970) was a Belgian illustrator and French-language author. His family, originally of Flemish extraction, had long been settled in Liège. He wrote many mystery novels ...

Jean-Philippe Toussaint Jean-Philippe Toussaint (29 November 1957, Brussels) is a Belgian novelist, photographer and filmmaker. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages and he has had his photographs displayed in Brussels and Japan. Toussaint won t ...

Emile Verhaeren Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

Henri Vernes Charles-Henri-Jean Dewisme (16 October 1918 – 25 July 2021), better known by his pen name Henri Vernes (), was an author of action and science fiction novels. He published over 200 titles in the action and science-fiction genre. He was most ...

* Arthur Xhignesse *

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

Francophone literature Francophone literature is literature written in the French language. The existence of a plurality of literatures in the French language has been recognised, although the autonomy of these literatures is less defined than the plurality of literat ...

Belgian French Belgian French (french: français de Belgique) is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside related Oïl languages of the region such as Walloon, Picard, Champenois, and Lorrain (Gaumais). The Frenc ...

* French Community of Belgium *

Belgian literature in Walloon

Literature in Walloon has been printed since the 16th century or at least since the beginning of the 17th century. Its golden age was in the 19th century: 'That period saw an efflorescence of Walloon literature, plays and poems primarily, and the founding of many theaters and periodicals.' Yves Quairiaux counted 4800 plays for 1860–1914, published or not. In this period plays were almost the only popular show in Wallonia. But this theater remains popular in present-day Wallonia: Theatre is still flourishing with over 200 non-professional companies playing in the cities and villages of Wallonia for an audience of over 200,000 each year. Jacques Ancion wanted to develop a regular adult audience. This regional literature most commonly deals with local folklore and ancient traditions, the most prominent Walloon author being

Arthur Masson Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

. * Charles-Nicolas Simonon (1774-1847): "Li Côparèye" (1822) * Nicolas Defrecheux (1825-1874): "Lèyîs-m'plorer" (Let me weep, 1854) * Edward Remouchamps (1836-1900) wrote the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

theater piece "Tatî l'pèriquî" (Gautier, the barber, 1885) * Salme Dieudonné: the novel "Li Houlot" (The cadet, 1888) * Willame Georges (1863-1917), sonnets * François Renkin (1872-1906), stylized prose * Henri Simon (1856-1939): "Li Mwert di l'abe" (The death of the tree, 1909) and "Li pan dè bon Dieu" (The Bread of the Good Lord, 1914) * Jules Claskin (1884-1926), poetry * Laloux Auguste (1908-1976): "Li p'tit Bêrt", written before 1940, published in 1963 * Geo Libbrecht (1891-1976): poetry, "Les cloques / Les cleokes (1964)."

External links

Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library Antwerp
for Flemish and French literature in Belgium

Notes and references