Jens Meijen (b. 1996) is a writer and PhD researcher in political science. He is also a journalist and literary critic for Humo and editor of the literary magazine DW B. He was Belgium’s first Young Poet Laureate. With his debut poetry collection Xenomorf (2019), he won the C. Buddingh’ Prize and was nominated for the Poetry Debut Prize Aan Zee.
De lichtjaren (The Light Years), 2021
Press on The Light Years:
‘The Light Years takes place in the near future. The temperatures have surged. Those who can have moved north, while the rest languish in cities that are only decaying. Meijen’s world is the current one on speed, in which today’s quirks have taken on a neurotic character.’ – Knack
‘The Light Years fits seamlessly in the line of compelling dystopias by George Orwell (1984), Aldous Huxley (A Brave New World) and Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale). In his outstanding debut novel, Meijen shows us “a black hole that has erased reality.”’ – Tzum