Hugo Claus
Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (born
April 5,
1929 in
Bruges,
Belgium) is a prolific
Flemish novelist,
poet,
playwright,
painter and
film director. He is considered to be one of the most important contemporary
Dutch language authors.
Hugo Claus was born in
Bruges. Under the pseudonym Dorothea van Male, he published the novel Schola Nostra (1971). He also used the pseudonyms Jan Hyoens and Thea Streiner.
In 1983, he published Het verdriet van België (The Sorrow of Belgium), which is probably his most famous book.
Claus is also a dramatist. He has written 35 original pieces and 31 translations from English, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish and Dutch plays and novels.
Hugo Claus has been connected with the Nobel Prize for Literature for several years now, but he himself claims to have given up hope of ever receiving it.
* 1964 - August Beernaertprize for De verwondering
* 1965 - Henriëtte Roland Holst-prize for all his plays
* 1967 - Edmond Hustinxprize for all his plays
* 1979 - Constantijn Huygensprize
* 1985 - Cestoda-prize
* 1986 - Herman Gorterprize for Alibi
* 1986 - Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren
* 1994 - Prijs voor Meesterschap
* 1994 - VSB Poëzieprize for De Sporen
* 1997 - Libris Literatuurprize for De geruchten
* 1998 -
Aristeion Prize(incomplete list)
Claus has written over a thousand pages of poetry, more than sixty plays, over twenty novels and several
essays,
film scripts,
libretti and
translations. Only a small part of this Å"uvre has been translated into
English:
* Prose:
**
The Duck Hunt, 1955 (
De Metsiers, 1950)
**
Sister of Earth, 1966 (
De Metsiers, 1950)
**
The Sorrow of Belgium, 1990 (
Het verdriet van België, 1983) (ISBN 1585672386)
**
The Swordfish, 1996 (
De Zwaardvis, 1989) (ISBN 0720609852)
**
Desire, 1997 (
Het verlangen, 1978) (ISBN 0140255389)
* Poetry:
** with
Karel Appel:
Love Song, 1963 (written in English)
** with
Pierre Alechinsky and Karel Appel:
Two-brush paintings: Their poems by Hugo Claus, 1980 (
Zwart, 1978)
**
Selected Poems 1953-1973, 1986
**
The Sign of the Hamster, 1986 (
Het teken van de Hamster, 1964)
* Theatre:
**
Friday, 1972 (
Vrijdag, 1969)
**
Four Works for the Theatre, 1990 (ISBN 0966615212)
**
Friday, 1993 (
Vrijdag, 1969)
* Essay:
**
Karel Appel, Painter, 1962 (
Karel Appel, Schilder, 1964)
*
Study and Documentation Centre Hugo Claus at the
Antwerp University*
Hugo Claus on the
Pegasos website.
*
Hugo Claus on the
Literature in Context website.
