Trivia

He lived since 1963 in Mortsel, near Antwerp.

He grew up in a mining family and graduated as a chemist for the mining industry.

In 1982, he devoted himself full-time to writing.

In the sixties he was for a while sports commentator for the Belgian Radio and Television (BRT).

In his work he generally describes the negative impact of modern society, such as loneliness and alienation and he tries to strive for an idealistic, paradisaical environment.

His work has been translated into several European languages (such as Russian and Romanian) and he has won several awards.

After the war he started working in the mine as a coal specialist and for this he traveled throughout Europe (up to 1953). At the same time he also studied Dutch and French literature at the Royal Academy and the Higher Institute for Arts in Antwerp.

He not only wrote novels, stories and poetry but also wrote several screenplays for television and also theatre plays.

He made his debut in 1955 with the collection of poems: Speelse parade (English: Playful parade) and became well known with the stories De muur (English: The wall) en Het gevaar (English: The danger).

He was among the most widely read authors of his generation in the Dutch-speaking world.