Maarten Biesheuvel (23 May 1939 in

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

– 30 July 2020 in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

) was a Dutch writer of short stories and novellas. He made his literary debut in 1972 with the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

collection ''In de bovenkooi''. He received the "Ferdinand Bordewijk Prijs" in 1984 for ''Reis door mijn kamer''. In 2007 he received the P. C. Hooft Award. The Dutch was named after him and is awarded to the author of the best collection of short stories that has appeared in the Dutch language during the previous year. From 1990 Biesheuvel's literary production slowed significantly due to a

writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...

and manic-depressive phases. He died in July 2020.

Selected works

*''In de bovenkooi'' (1972) *''Reis door mijn kamer'' (1984) *''Godencirkel'' (1986)

Awards

*1985: 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 ''Reis door mijn kamer'' *2007: The P. C. Hooft Award *2008: Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

References

1939 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Dutch novelists 20th-century Dutch male writers People from Schiedam Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize winners P. C. Hooft Award winners Dutch male novelists {{Netherlands-writer-stub