Erwin Mortier (born 28 November 1965) is a

Dutch-language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans'' ...

Belgian author. Spending his youth in

Hansbeke Hansbeke is a village and ''deelgemeente'' (sub-municipality) in the municipality of Deinze in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders. The village is located about west of Ghent. History The village was first mentioned in 1147 as Hansb ...

, he later moved to nearby

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, where he became city poet (2005–2006). He wrote as a columnist for newspapers like ''

De Morgen ''De Morgen'' (Dutch for ''The Morning'') is a Flemish newspaper with a circulation of 53,860. The paper is published in Antwerp, Belgium. History and profile ''De Morgen'' originates from a merger in 1978 of two socialist newspapers ' (meaning ...

'' and published several novels: * ''Marcel'' (1999) – * ''My Fellow Skin'' – * ''Shutter Speed'' – * '' While the Gods Were Sleeping'' (2008) Collections of his poetry were published from 2001 on. Among the literary prizes awarded to Mortier there are debut prizes in Belgium and in the Netherlands for ''Marcel'', in 2002 the C. Buddingh' prize for his debut in poetry, and in 2009 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 and amounts to 50,000. The ce ...

for ''While the Gods Were Sleeping''. Mortier

came out of the closet Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

with ''A plea for sinning'', a collection of essays (2003).BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: How to be as immodest as possible
at Other non-fiction included ''Evenings on the Estate: Travelling with

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 ...

'' (2007), and ''A farewell to Congo: Back to the equator with

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 Belgiu ...

'' (2010). He translated war prose by Ellen N. La Motte,

Mary Borden Mary Borden (May 15, 1886 – December 2, 1968) (married names: Mary Turner; Mary Spears, Lady Spears; pseud. Bridget Maclagan) was an American-British novelist and poet whose work drew on her experiences as a war nurse. She was the second of ...

and

Enid Bagnold Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones, (27 October 1889 – 31 March 1981) was a British writer and playwright known for the 1935 story ''National Velvet''. Early life Enid Algerine Bagnold was born on 27 October 1889 in Rochester, Kent, daughte ...

in Dutch, and produced the first Dutch translation of

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

's ''

Between the Acts ''Between the Acts'' is the final novel by Virginia Woolf. It was published shortly after her death in 1941. Although the manuscript had been completed, Woolf had yet to make final revisions. The book describes the mounting, performance, and a ...

''.

References

External links

Author's website
(Partly in English) *
Under the skin of an awkward awakening
book review of ''My Fellow Skin'' by Kathleen Marshall, in ''

Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate '' The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 20 ...

'', 2 November 2003 *
Memories made flesh
by AS Byatt in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 22 November 2003 (on ''My Fellow Skin'')
Shutterspeed cover art and synopsis

"While the Gods Were Sleeping"
at

OverDrive.com OverDrive, Inc. is a digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, online magazines and Streaming media, streaming video titles. The company provides digital rights management and download fulfillment services for publishers, libraries, schools, c ...

*
A Letter to the lad I used to be - Online Essay by Erwin Mortier
at Upcoming4.me {{DEFAULTSORT:Mortier, Erwin 1965 births Living people Belgian non-fiction writers Belgian male novelists 20th-century Belgian novelists 21st-century Belgian novelists Flemish poets Gay writers War writers LGBT writers from Belgium 20th-century Belgian male writers 21st-century Belgian male writers C. Buddingh' Prize winners Male non-fiction writers