Author

Hugo Claus (1929-2008) ranks as the most important Flemish writer since the Second World War. His supremely realistic work broke with a traditional way of writing. Characteristic of this early work is a surprising and powerful style combined with an effervescent use of language. Later his prose became more sober in tone but the poetic force always remained, as did his ability to cause a sensation. His wide-ranging oeuvre consists of novels, stories, poems, plays and film scripts. Claus has received more than fifty prizes, including seven Belgian or Flemish National Awards, several Dutch awards, and the Belgian-Dutch Literature Prize (1986), the most important literary prize for a writer working in the Dutch language. His international prizes include the Prix Lugné-Poë (1955), the Ford Foundation Grant (1959), the Prix International Pier Paolo Pasolini (1997), the Aristeion Literature Prize (1998), the Premio Nonino (2000) and the Preis für Europäische Poesie (2001).