Hugo Claus

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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 in Literature for several years now, but he himself claims to have given up hope of ever receiving it.

[edit] Prizes

• 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)

[edit] Bibliography

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 œuvre 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 1-58567-238-6)
  • The Swordfish, 1996 (De Zwaardvis, 1989) (ISBN 0-7206-0985-2)
  • Desire, 1997 (Het verlangen, 1978) (ISBN 0-14-025538-9)
• 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 0-9666152-1-2)
  • Friday, 1993 (Vrijdag, 1969)
• Essay:
  • Karel Appel, Painter, 1962 (Karel Appel, Schilder, 1964)

[edit] External links

• Study and Documentation Centre Hugo Claus at the Antwerp University
• Hugo Claus on the Pegasos website.
• Hugo Claus on the Literature in Context website.
• Hugo Claus 'Bookweb' on literary website The Ledge, with suggestions for further reading.