Peter Verhelst (born 28 January 1962) is a Belgian

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

novelist, poet and dramatist. He won 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 '' Tongkat''.

Life

Peter Verhelst was born in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, Belgium. In his youth, he was extremely interested in books, reading atlases and encyclopaediae, as well as novels, and writing poetry from the age of 16. While a teacher in Dutch, English and History, he debuted in 1987 with the poem "Obsidiaan", with his first novel - "Vloeibaar harnas" - following in 1993. Thereafter, he worked as a teacher at the Institute for Food in Bruges, quitting in 1999 to begin writing full-time. In 2000, he won the prestigious Gouden Uil (

Golden Owl The Golden Book-Owl (De Gouden Boekenuil) is a Belgian prize for original Dutch language literature. Originally it was named Golden Owl (De Gouden Uil). It has been awarded annually since 1995. Development It has changed categories several times d ...

) and Young Gold Owl (Jonge Gouden Uil), a literary prize for Belgian literature in the Dutch language. He also started working as a playwright, with his first play completed in 1997. In 2016 he won the

Ida Gerhardt Poëzieprijs The Ida Gerhardt Poëzieprijs (Dutch for Ida Gerhardt Poetry Prize) is a Dutch poetry award named after classicist and poet Ida Gerhardt. The award was created by the municipal council of the city of Zutphen and is now awarded by the Stichting ...

for his poetry book ''Wij totale vlam'' (2014). In 2019 he has got the Confituur Boekhandelsprijs, granted by the association of independent Flemish book dealers, for his essay book ''Voor het vergeten''. For his lifetime achievements he won 2021 the

Constantijn Huygens Prize The Constantijn Huygens Prize (Dutch: ''Constantijn Huygens-prijs'') is a Dutch literary award.Bruges, Belgium Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

Important works

Poetry

*''Obsidiaan'' (1987) *''OTTO'' (1998) *''Angel'' (1990) *''Witte Bloemen'' (1991) *''Master'' (1992) *''De Boom N'' (1994) *''Verhemelte'' (1996) *''Verrukkingen'' (1997) *''Alaska'' (2003) *''Nieuwe sterrenbeelden'' (2008) *''Zoo van het denken'' (2011) *''Wij totale vlam'' (2014) *''Zing Zing (2016) *''Koor'' (2017) *''Wat ons had kunnen zijn'' (2018) *''Zon'' (2019) *''2050'' (2021)

Prose

*''Vloeibaar harnas'' (1993) *''Het spieren alfabet'' (1995) *''De kleurenvanger'' (1996) *'' Tongkat'' (1999) *''Zwellend fruit'' (2000) *''Memoires van een Luipaard'' (2001) *''Mondschilderingen'' (2002) *''Zwerm'' (2005) *''Huis van de Aanrakingen'' (2010) *''De allerlaatste caracara ter wereld'' (2012) *'' Geschiedenis van een berg'' (2013) *''De kunst van het crashen'' (2015) *''De zeer vermoeide man en de vrouw die hartstochtelijk van bonsai hield'' (2016) *''Voor het vergeten'' (2018)

Theater

*''Maria Salomé'' (1997) *''Romeo en Julia (studie van een verdrinkend lichaam)'' (1998) *''Red Rubber Balls'' (1999) *''S*ckmyp'' (2000) *''AARS!'' (2000) *''Scratching the inner fields'' (2001) *''Philocrates'' (2002) *''Het sprookjesbordeel'' (2002) *''Blush' (2002) *''Sonic Boom'' (2002) *''Icarus/Man-o-War'' (2002) CREW Eric Joris *''Philoctetes Fortify My Arms'' (2003) CREW Eric Joris *''Crash'' (2004) CREW Eric Joris *''Terra Nova'' (2011) CREW Eric Joris *''Absence'' (October 2015) CREW Eric Joris and NTGent

Sources

Over Verhelsts poëzie
(

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

)
Over Verhelsts Tongkat (Dutch)
1962 births Living people Writers from Bruges Flemish poets 20th-century Belgian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Belgian dramatists and playwrights Belgian male dramatists and playwrights Belgian male novelists Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize winners Belgian male poets 20th-century Belgian novelists 21st-century Belgian novelists 20th-century Belgian poets 21st-century Belgian poets Belgian speculative fiction writers 20th-century Belgian male writers 21st-century Belgian male writers Woutertje Pieterse Prize winners Gouden Griffel winners {{Belgium-writer-stub