Trivia

From 2000 onwards, in addition to several thrillers with explicit political themes, he wrote historical novels set in 16th century humanist circles during the Renaissance: novels about Erasmus, Vesalius, Johanna the Mad and recently also about Thomas More.

He started his literary career with psychological stories and novels (1986-1996). An exception in this period and a precursor to his later work is the book In the ban of Mohammed (Manteau, 1993), which tells the remarkable life of the 16th century humanist and theologian Nicolaes Cleynaerts.

In 1988 he published his first collection of short stories, "De macht van het getal"(The Power of Numbers), which was nominated for the Flemish Debut Prize. The title story was made into a film by the Flemish Television.

Joris Tulkens is a Flemish author of psychological novels, crime novels and historical novels.

He studied philosophy and classical philology in Leuven from 1962 till 1966.

He attended the local St. Jan-Berchmans College. Like all aspiring writers, Joris Tulkens filled his days reading books and writing for school newspapers.

Joris Tulkens made his debut in the Leuven magazine "Wel" with the short story: 'Streepjes zonlicht' (Stripes of Sunligh). His first pièce de résistance appeared in the "Nieuw Wereldtijdschrift": the story "De macht van het nummer" (The Power of Number) (which was also adapted into a film in 1992). Flemish writer and poet Herman de Coninck compared him to Jorge Luis Borges.

In 2025, he published his historical novel "Intrigues in the Vatican: How Leuven Nearly Missed Out on Its University." In it, Tulkens outlines the "diplomacy" of the founding of Leuven University.

He published his life's work in 2021. Tulkens didn't want to disappear from this world without publishing the translation of the 62 Latin letters of his favorite humanist, Nicolaes Cleynaerts (1493-1542). "Under the Spell of Mohammed. Nicolaes Cleynaerts' Letters from the Arab World" is the title. Publisher Sterck & De Vreese created an impressive book that deserves a place on every Flemish and Dutch coffee table. For the translation itself, he was able to call upon the expertise of Professor Jan Papy, a specialist in humanistic Latin. Their collaboration resulted in a text that is both accurate and easy to read. They hope that this publication will finally save the name of Nicolaes Cleynaerts from oblivion.

Influenced by the Sixties, Joris Tulkens decided to change the world. He visited socially critical groups and delivered corresponding speeches. He worked for seven years on a socially critical city newspaper. He started doing cabaret. He wrote lyrics and sang songs with the group Marebel (with Walter Marsoul and Mark Bellen). When they were declared "the best cabaret group in Flanders," they split up, and the world remained as it was.