Jacob (Bob) den Uyl (27 March 1930,
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
– 13/14 February, 1992 Rotterdam) was a Dutch writer of mostly short stories.
His writing style is mostly ironic and observant. The most prominent theme in his work is the purposelessness and absurdity of existence. His earlier work consists mostly of absurd stories. In his later work, the focus of his writing shifted to more autobiographic stories, mostly concerned with travels (by bicycle) in neighbouring countries of The Netherlands.
Recurring elements in his work are:
*His experiences as a child during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
*
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
*His love for bicycle racing
*His alcohol use
*The city of Rotterdam
During his lifetime Den Uyl won the following prizes in literature:
*In 1965, the “Prozaprijs” conferred by the city of Amsterdam for 'Vogels Kijken'
*In 1968, the “
Anna Blaman Prijs
The Anna Blaman Prijs (Dutch for ''Anna Blaman Prize'') is a Dutch literary award created by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds. The award is named after Dutch writer and poet Anna Blaman. The award is only given to those who either live or work or ...
” for 'Een zachte fluittoon'
*In 1976, the “
Multatuli-prijs” for 'Gods wegen zijn duister en zelden aangenaam'
In 2004, the editorial board of the VPRO-Gids established the Bob den Uyl prize for travel stories. Several collected stories have been posthumously published. In 2008, Nico Keuning published Bob den Uyl's
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uyl, Bob Den
1930 births
1992 deaths
20th-century Dutch male writers
Writers from Rotterdam