De Bezige Bij ("the busy bee") is one of the most important literary
publishing companies
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
in the
Netherlands
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.
History
The company was founded illegally in 1943, during the
German occupation of the Netherlands
Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal family re ...
by ; its first publication was a poem by
Jan Campert
Jan Remco Theodoor Campert ( Spijkenisse, 15 August 1902 – 12 January 1943) was a Dutch journalist, theater critic and writer who lived in Amsterdam. During the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II Campert was arrested for aidin ...
called ''De Achttien Dooden'' ("The eighteen dead"), which describes the execution of 15 resistance fighters and three communists. The poem was sold to raise money for Jewish children who were placed with Dutch families; when it was published, in the spring of 1943, Campert had already died in the
Neuengamme concentration camp
Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in Northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, th ...
. When the German occupier rounded up students for the
Arbeitseinsatz
''Arbeitseinsatz'' (german: for 'labour deployment') was a forced labour category of internment within Nazi Germany (german: Zwangsarbeit) during World War II. When German men were called up for military service, Nazi German authorities rounded ...
, Lubberhuizen hid in the attic of Maarten Vink, a surgeon, and ran the press from there.
The name is derived from one of Lubberhuizen's aliases, "Bas." After he had signed a note, "Bas (busy)," an English-speaking friend joked, "Bas, busy as a bee can be," which led to the current name.
In 1997, De Bezige Bij became part of the Weekbladpersgroep, though it was to keep its editorial independence and its
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
structure.
Writers and poets
Writers and poets published by De Bezige Bij include:
*
Remco Campert
Remco Campert (28 July 1929 – 4 July 2022) was a Dutch author, poet and columnist.
Early years
Remco Wouter Campert was born in The Hague, son of writer and poet Jan Campert, author of the poem ''De achttien dooden'', and actress Joekie Bro ...
*
Hugo Claus
Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (; 5 April 1929 – 19 March 2008) was a leading Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, the novel, and poetry; he also l ...
*
Jan Cremer
Jan Cremer (; born 20 April 1940, Enschede, Netherlands) is a Dutch author, photographer and painter. His best known work is the novel ' ("I, Jan Cremer"; 1964) and the sequel ''Ik, Jan Cremer, tweede boek'' ("I, Jan Cremer, second book"; 1966) ...
*
Louis Ferron
Louis Ferron (born Karl Heinz Beckering; 4 February 1942 – 26 August 2005) was a Dutch novelist and poet.
Biography
Louis Ferron was born in Leiden out of an adulterous relationship between a married German soldier and a waitress from Haarlem ...
Harry Mulisch
Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch ( ; 29 July 1927 – 30 October 2010) was a Dutch writer. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems, and philosophical reflections. Mulisch's works have been translated into over thirty languages.
Along with Wi ...
*
Gerard Reve
Gerard Kornelis van het Reve (14 December 1923 – 8 April 2006) was a Dutch writer. He started writing as Simon Gerard van het Reve and adopted the shorter Gerard Reve in 1973. Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he i ...
*
Jan Siebelink
Jan Geurt Siebelink (born 13 February 1938 in Velp, Gelderland) is a Dutch author. In 2005, he wrote the novel ''Knielen op een bed violen'' (literally ', translated into English as ''In my father's garden'') that sold over 700,000 copies. In 19 ...
Simon Vinkenoog
Simon Vinkenoog (18 July 1928 – 12 July 2009) was a Dutch poet, spoken word poet and writer. He was the editor of the anthology ''Atonaal'' (Atonal), which launched the Dutch "Fifties Movement".
In 2004 he was chosen as Dichter des Vaderland ...
*
Tommy Wieringa
Tommy Wieringa (born 20 May 1967) is a Dutch writer.Tommy Wieringa
*
Leon de Winter
Leon de Winter (born 24 February 1954) is a Dutch writer and columnist.
Early life
Leon de Winter was born on 24 February 1954 in Den Bosch, in the southern Netherlands. He grew up in a Jewish orthodox family and attended City Grammar Schoo ...