Willem Wilmink (;

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

, 25 October 1936 – 2 August 2003) was a Dutch poet and writer. He was best known for the large number of songs he wrote for popular children programs and his accessible, straightforward poetry.

Life and career

Wilmink was born in

and studied

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 ...

and history 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 ...

. From 1960 to 1978, he taught modern literature at the same university. He wrote many songs for

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

and wrote a number of novels for young adults. At first he mainly wrote for

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

s, but later mainly for children. His first publication was in 1966: ''Brief van een Verkademeisje'' (Eng: "letter from a Verkade girl"). His poem "Ben Ali Libi," inspired by Dutch Jewish magician Michel Velleman, who was murdered at the

Sobibor extermination camp Sobibor (, Polish: ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of German-occupied Poland. As ...

, has become one of his most famous poems. From 1970, he formed a writers' collective, together with Karel Eijkman,

Hans Dorrestijn Hans Dorrestijn (born 16 June 1940 in Ede, Gelderland) is a Dutch comedian and writer. Programs * Bofkont (1973) * Mooi van lelijkheid (1977) * In staat van ontbinding (1980) * Dorrestijns geweten spreekt (1982) * Circus Horlepiep (1985, with ...

, Ries Moonen, Fetze Pijlman and Jan Riem. They contributed a lot to television programs such as

De Stratemakeropzeeshow ''De Stratemakeropzeeshow'' (English: ''The road worker at sea show'') was a Dutch children's television programme that ran from 1972 to 1974 and was aired by the VARA broadcasting organization. ''De Stratemakeropzeeshow'' is regarded as one of ...

Het Klokhuis ''Het Klokhuis'' (Dutch for "The Applecore") is a daily documentary show for primary school children and young teenagers produced by ntr of the Netherlands. It first aired in 1988. It is broadcast every weekday at 18:25 on NPO 3 and lasts abou ...

, De Film van Ome Willem,

Sesamstraat ''Sesamstraat'' () is a Dutch television series in the Netherlands, and a spin-off of the U.S. children's program ''Sesame Street''. In its early days the show was broadcast in Flanders (Belgium) as well. It is the second longest-running foreign ...

and

Kinderen voor Kinderen (, ) is a Dutch children's choir maintained by public broadcaster BNNVARA. Since 1980 the choir has released one album of new children's songs each year, and is probably the only act from the 1980s with consecutive albums in the top 40 char ...

. He received numerous prizes for his work, including the Louis Davids Prijs in the 1970s, the

Zilveren Griffel The Gouden Griffel (Golden Stylus) is an award given to authors of children's or teenagers' literature in the Netherlands. History Since 1971, it is awarded each year during the Dutch Children's Books Week, by the Stichting Collectieve Prop ...

in 1983 and 1994, the

Nienke van Hichtum-prijs The Nienke van Hichtum-prijs (Dutch for Nienke van Hichtum Prize) is a biennial Dutch literary award for children's literature awarded by the Jan Campert-Stichting. The award is named after children's author Nienke van Hichtum and was first awar ...

in 1985, the

Gouden Griffel The Gouden Griffel (Golden Stylus) is an award given to authors of children's or teenagers' literature in the Netherlands. History Since 1971, it is awarded each year during the Dutch Children's Books Week, by the Stichting Collectieve Prop ...

in 1986, and the

Theo Thijssen-prijs The Theo Thijssen-prijsSometimes spelled ''Theo Thijssenprijs''. (Dutch for Theo Thijssen Prize) is a Dutch literary award awarded once every three years to a Dutch author of children's literature or young adult fiction. The award is not given f ...

in 1988. While never really well-known as a performing artist, though he sang and played

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, a lot of Dutch people know Wilmink's songs. He performed regularly with his group in the nineties. Many Dutch artists have performed Wilminks poetry, including Herman van Veen,

Wieteke van Dort Louisa Johanna Theodora van Dort (born May 16, 1943 in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies) is a Dutch actress, comedian, singer, writer and artist of Indo (Eurasian) descent. On April 29, 1999, Queen Beatrix appointed her ''Knight of the Order of Orang ...

, Joost Prinsen and the

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

group Don Quishocking. Many of his texts have been put to music by

Harry Bannink Harry Bannink (10 April 1929, Enschede – 19 October 1999, Bosch en Duin) was a Dutch composer, arranger and pianist. He wrote over 3,000 songs. Bannink studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, receiving his degree in 1946. He star ...

and Frank Deiman. In later life, his health declined due to a number of

strokes A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

Works

Prose

*1971 - About cabaret (IVIO) *1972 - A strange tiger and other poems (Aarts / 2nd edition 1978) *1972 - Seven songs for a peak (Aarts) *1973 - It happens to everyone: twenty songs for children (Aarts) *1975 - Business from Heaven: songs for children (Aarts) *1975 - Messages for anxious children (Cosmos) *1976 - The party of the Amstel: a fairy tale (Aarts) *1976 - The scared animalforrest (Kosmos / 5th edition 1987) *1977 - The thirteen months of the year: romantic piano pieces for beginners (Rap) *1977 - neighborhood boys (Cosmos) *1977 - The songs for children (Aarts / 4th edition 1984) *1977 - Far from town (Cosmos) *1978 - Jan Elephant (Aarts) *1979 - Murder in the swamp (Cosmos) *1980 - Ghost between ghosts (Foundation CPNB) *1980 - The amazing journey of Jacob Moonshine and Sientje Starfish (Aarts) *1980 - Dorus dragon (Heureka / 2nd edition 1984) *1981 - Two girls in Twente: stories and poems (Bekadidact) *1981 - Far from the city and neighborhood boys (Cosmos) *1982 - Near the houses (Kosmos / 2nd edition 1983) *1983 - Far friends: 44 new songs (Bakker) *1983 - Two brothers (Horstink) *1983 - Koen, do my shoe ?: Willem Wilmink's close correspondence course (Van Holkema & Warendorf) *1983 - Ali Baba (Leopold) *1984 - The fist this fist songs from film Uncle William (Aarts) *1984 - Look with your eyes closed: songs for children (Harlequin) *1984 - Three trips Louis (Horstink) *1984 - A while later (Foundation CPNB) *1984 - The wrong pan (bakery / 4th edition 1992) *1985 - Where the heart is full of Willem Wilmink's close correspondence course (Van Holkema & Warendorf / 3rd edition 1986) *1985 - We'll see what it is: songs for growing children (Bakker) *1986 - Climb into your pen (PTT Post) *1986 - Hear! So never sung! Hear !: an anthology of his poems (Bakker) *1986 - Willem Wilmink omnibus (bakery / 2nd edition 1988) *1986 - Collected songs and poems (bakery / 5th edition 1999) *1987 - Somewhere in France (PTT Post) *1987 - Good evening, musician Willem Wilmink's close correspondence course (Van Holkema & Warendorf) *1988 - They say that the earth revolves 37 new poems (Bakker) *1988 - Today is the big day: Crash Course occasion seal (Van Holkema & Warendorf) *1988 - The treacherous child: a few poems by Hendrik de Vries (Baker, also appeared as a thesis Tilburg) *1989 - The child is father of the man: an anthology of his own work (Bakker) *1989 - Jack, Jacky and the juniors along roads iron (Wiggers, Inmerc) *1989 - Rutgers trip (Bakker) *1989 - The Story of Kees (scenario of Duren André television film) *1990 - Should be feared that it never existed ?: 34 new poems (Bakker) *1991 - Jack, Jacky and the juniors: Christmas stories (Wiggers) *1991 - In the kitchen of the muse: closing the entire correspondence course (Baker / 2nd edition 1996) *1992 - A dog traveling: poems for reasonable five-year-olds (Bakker) *1992 - Direction England (scenario for a television film by André Duren) *1993 - I get it: songs for young children (Bakker) *1993 - The anthem (Van Goor / 3rd edition 1998) *1994 - Willem Wilmink (Rider) *1995 - ABC (Querido) *1995 - Beware of pirates: songs (Walvaboek) *1995 - Severe enough: songs and poems from 1986 (Baker) *1995 - Ali Baba and the forty artists (Zircon; Beehive) *1996 - I had as a child a home and hearth (bakery / 5th edition 2004)

Poetry

*1971 - , wheat sheaves, songs and poems *1972 - Seven songs for a peak *1972 - A strange tiger and other poems *1977 - For a nude person (anthology) *1988 - Collected songs and poems *1988 - They say that the earth revolves *1990 - Should be feared that it never existed? *1992 - Heftan tattat! Gedichn in Urban Low Saxon (De Oare Utjouwerij) *1993 - Javastraat, enhanced with an old and a new song, two old poems and a preface: Why and how to write (The Oare Utjouwerij) *1994 - Severe enough, Nine new poems (The Oare Utjouwerij) *1996 - Carmina Burana, Orff's choice translated (The Oare Utjouwerij) *1996 - An own Song of Songs (The Oare Utjouwerij) *1999 - The Princess Pathmos, Enschedese folk musical (The Oare Utjouwerij) *2002 - Heftan tattat! 24 poems in Urban Low Saxon (De Oare Utjouwerij, 7th edition 2008)

Poetry for children

*1973 - It happens to everyone *1975 - Business from heaven *1975 - Messages for anxious children (anthology) *1977 - The thirteen months of the year *1985 - We'll see what it is: songs for growing children *1992 - A dog traveling *1995 - Musical images: poems by Mussorgsky (The Children, The Picture Gallery), Saint-Saëns (Carnival of the Animals)

Prose for children

*1975 - The scared Dierenbos *1976 - The party of the Amstel *1977 - Far from town *1977 - neighbor boys *1979 - Murder in the swamp *1980 - Ghost between ghosts *1981 - Two girls in Twente (stories and poetry) *1982 - Near the houses *1984 - Three trips Louis *1986 - Where the heart is full of *1988 - Good evening, Speelman *1988 - Today is the big day *1991 - In the kitchen of the muse. fill the entire correspondence course

Essays

*1988 - From Roodeschool to Lille. A personal look at the Dutch song *1989 - You know that you do not exist *1990 - What I've found, you never guess

Photo gallery

Don Quishocking (1974).jpg, in 1974. Wilmink is on the left Willem Wilmink Verzameld Werk.JPG, Collected works (songs and poems) Willem Wilmink - Spelende meisjes.jpg, The wall poem ''Spelende meisjes'' 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 ...

References

External links

* * *
literairnederland.nlKoninklijke Bibliotheek - dossier Willem Wilmink
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmink, Willem 1936 births 2003 deaths Dutch male poets People from Enschede 20th-century Dutch poets 20th-century Dutch male writers Nienke van Hichtum Prize winners Gouden Griffel winners