Gerwin van der Werf
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Gerwin van der Werf | |
|---|---|
 van der Werf (2025) | |
| Born | (1969-06-13) June 13, 1969 (age 56) De Meern, Netherlands |
| Occupation | Novelist, composer[1] |
| Website | |
| muziekentekst | |
Gerwin van der Werf (born 1969), brother of Ysbrand van der Werf is a Dutch author of novels, songwriter, and instrumentalist.[1] In January 2010, his poem "Misbruik" ("Abuse") won the first prize of €10,000 (equivalent to €13,226 in 2023) in the Dutch Turing National Poetry Contest.[1] In 2025 his novel De krater (The Crater) was selected as the Boekenweekgeschenk for the 90th Boekenweek.[2][3]
Literary career
Gerwin van der Werf was born in De Meern and raised in Elburg, Netherlands. He studied musicology at the University of Utrecht and earned his doctorate in 1995.[4]
Van def Werf is a part-time teacher at secondary school level, having worked in Voorburg and at the Rijnlands Lyceum in Oegstgeest.[2]
He has been a literary critic and columnist for Trouw since 2012.[2][3]
A writer of poetry also, his literary career took off in 2009 when he won the Dutch Turing Poetry prize.[2] A few months later his first novel, de Gewapende Man (The Armed Man), was published but to little acclaim.[2] Over the next 15 years he wrote 6 more books,[2] including Een onbarmhartig pad (An unmerciful path) a novel about a road trip around Iceland that was published in Dutch, English, and German in 2018; and Wilgeneiland (Willow Island) a novel that he set in Rijpwetering.[2]
He was nominated for the Libris Literatuur Prize in 2012 for Wild,[5] and shortlisted for Best International Crime Award at the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards for The Hitchhiker.[6]
Works
The Hitchhiker was a psychological drama where the protagonist Tiddo takes his wife on a tour of Iceland in a campervan to attempt to save their marriage, only to pick up hitch-hiker Svein along the way.[7] The book was translated into English.[8]
De krater is a road trip narrated by 17-year-old Eden, the sister of elder Johnny and younger Benjamin, who are all travelling to Steinheim am Albuch to visit its meteorite crater.[9][10] They encounter many problems, including a failed car radio, no air conditioning, and running out of fuel.[9] Eden faces challenges with her non-binary identity, and younger brother Benjamin is a space enthusiast whose depression his elder siblings hope to cure with the trip.[9][10] It was the view of de Volkskrant's literary critic that being a schoolteacher enabled van der Werf to accurately portray teenage voices, as the three interact, teasing one another, which is a difficult task for adult writers.[9] For the 90th edition of the Boekenweek, a week-long event promoting Dutch literature, a jury judged 149 submissions, the way the Boekenweekgeschenk used to be judged--the winner gets their book handed out for free to everyone in the country who buys a Dutch-language book at a book store. Van der Werf's De krater won.[11]
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- 2009 Tweede Prijs Zomerverhalen Schrijven Magazine
- 2008 Nomination '1000 woorden prijs'
- 2008 Third prize Dutch Paper Trouw writing competition 'Mijn betere ik’
- 2008 First prize Volkskrant writing competition "Vakantiegeluk”
- 2008 'Met woorden kan ik toveren' publicized in 'Mijn tweede Van Dale Luisterwoordenboek'
- 2008 First prize Trouw Schrijfwedstrijd "Een bekentenis”
- 2008 Pika Don, new musical production (RLO)
- 2006 Author 'Intro Muziek voor de Bovenbouw' (ThiemeMeulenhoff)
- 1998–2007 Macbeth, Oedipus, West Side Story & 6 andere theaterproducties (RLO)
- 1998 Antigone (Theater Imperium)
- 1997 Hamlet (RLO)
- 1996 Ten pieces for "New Belcanto", Dordrecht
- 1995 Belcanto Festival, opera pastiche (script, arrangements)
- 1994 Doctoral musicology Utrecht
- 1992 Composition-prize musicology
References
- 1 2 3 ANP 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 de Vugt 2025.
- 1 2 NOS 2025.
- ↑ "Over Gerwin van der Werf" (in Dutch). Gerwin van der Werf. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
- ↑ NOS 2012.
- ↑ NKA 2023.
- ↑ Orchard 2022, p. 52.
- ↑ Korsten, Tracey (July 17, 2022). "Book Review: The Hitchhiker, by Gerwin Van Der Werf". Glam Adelaide. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 van Houwelingen 2025.
- 1 2 van den Bergh 2025.
- ↑ Schmale, Jeroen (February 12, 2025). "Dit is de winnaar van de schrijfwedstrijd en auteur van het Boekenweekgeschenk". Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant.
Bibliography
- de Vugt, Geertjan (March 13, 2025). "Gerwin van der Werf: anoniem verkozen tot de meest gelezen schrijver van Nederland (voor elf dagen)". de Volkskrant (in Dutch).
- van Houwelingen, Bo (March 13, 2025). "Het boekenweekgeschenk van Gerwin van der Werf is innemend vanaf de eerste pagina". de Volkskrant (in Dutch).
- van den Bergh, Thomas (March 5, 2025). "De krater is een van de beste Boekenweekgeschenken van de laatste jaren". vpro boeken gids (in Dutch).
- "Wedstrijd Boekenweekgeschenk 2025 gewonnen door Gerwin van der Werf". NOS Nieuws (in Dutch). February 12, 2025.
- "Ned Kelly Awards 2023 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. August 7, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
- Orchard, Shelley (August 20, 2022). "Reviews: Fiction: The Hitchhiker Gerwin van der Werf". The Northern Territory News. Darwin, Australia. hdl:10070/890410.
- "Achttien titels op longlist Libris". NOS Nieuws (in Dutch). January 30, 2012.
- Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (January 27, 2010). "Leidenaar wint Nationale Gedichtenwedstrijd". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved July 1, 2011.
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