Maria Johanna Meijsing (21 October 1947 – 30 January 2012) was a Dutch novelist. She won the

AKO Literatuurprijs The Bookspot Literatuurprijs (previously ECI Literatuurprijs, AKO Literatuurprijs and Generale Bank Literatuurprijs) is a prize for literature in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is awarded to authors writing in Dutch language, Dutch and amounts t ...

in 2000 for her novel '' De tweede man'', and in 2008 the

Ferdinand Bordewijk Prijs {{short description, Dutch literary award The Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize or F. Bordewijk-prijs is a literary award, presented annually by the Jan Campert Foundation to the author of the best Dutch prose book. The prize was established in 1948 as the ...

for her novel '' Over de liefde''. Doeschka Meijsing is the older sister of writer

Geerten Meijsing Geerten Jan Maria Meijsing (born 9 August 1950) is a Dutch writer, translator and novelist. He won the AKO Literatuurprijs in 1988 for his novel ''Veranderlijk en wisselvallig (Fickle and Changeable)'', and in 1999 the Golden Owl, Gouden Uil Lit ...

and philosopher Monica Meijsing.

Biography

Meijsing was born in Eindhoven, on 21 October 1947. When she was three years old, Meijsing and her family moved to

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

. She studied Dutch Language and Literary Studies at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. Meijsing was a teacher at the St. Ignatius Gymnasium from 1971 to 1976. She subsequently held a position as a research assistant at the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Dutch Studies until 1978. That year, she took up a post as editor of the literary supplement of the influential Dutch magazine

Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Netherlands) is a Dutch magazine, established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper. It has since grown into a magazine. The originally weekly and now monthly magaz ...

and in 1989 she became literary editor of leading current-affairs weekly

Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', th ...

Writing

From 1969 Meijsing published work in literary magazine ''Podium,'' and later she also published in . Hence her work has been referred to as being in the Revisor style. In 1974, her first collection of short stories ''De hanen en andere verhalen'' was published. The guest lectures she gave at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

have been collected in ''Hoe verliefd is de toeschouwer?'' (1988). Meijsing also wrote poetry (''Paard Heer Mantel,'' 1986). In 1997 she won the Opzij Literature Prize (which was then called the Annie Romein Prize).

Literary Themes

Major themes in Meijsing's work include the relationship between imagination and reality, the fascination for an admired person - and consequential jealousy - and time. Her protagonists tend to be vulnerable outsiders who escape into fantasy. Meijsing was lesbian and had several relationships with women. Her latest novel ''Over de liefde'', published in 2008 and a recipient of the AKO Literature Prize, the F. Bordewijk Prize and the Opzij Literature Award, was inspired by her relationship with journalist Xandra Schutte. This relationship ended after Schutte left her for someone else.

Death

Meijsing died at the age of 64 from complications of major surgery. She lived until her death in Amsterdam, in an apartment above that of her ex-partner.

Bibliography

* 1974 – ''De hanen en andere verhalen'' * 1976 – ''Robinson'' * 1977 – ''De kat achterna'' * 1980 – ''Tijger, tijger!'' * 1982 – ''Utopia of De geschiedenissen van Thomas'' * 1982 – ''Zwaluwen en Augustein'' * 1985 – ''Ik ben niet in Haarlem geboren'' * 1986 – ''Paard Heer Mantel'' * 1987 – ''Beer en Jager'' * 1988 – ''Hoe verliefd is de toeschouwer?'' * 1990 – ''De beproeving'' * 1992 – ''Vuur en zijde'' * 1994 – ''Beste vriend'' * 1996 – ''De angstige waakhond'' * 1996 – ''De weg naar Caviano'' * 2000 – ''De tweede man'' * 2002 – ''100% chemie'' * 2005 – ''Moord en doodslag'' * 2008 – ''Over de liefde''

References

External links

1947 births 2012 deaths People from Eindhoven Dutch lesbian writers Dutch LGBT novelists Lesbian novelists Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize winners 20th-century Dutch novelists 21st-century Dutch novelists 20th-century Dutch women writers 21st-century Dutch women writers Dutch women novelists 21st-century Dutch LGBT people {{Netherlands-writer-stub