Albert Hagenaars

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Albert Hagenaars (b. 1955) is an award-winning Dutch author and poet.

Hagenaars was born in the southern town of Bergen op Zoom in 1955. He studied Dutch, lived in France and has been working as a reviewer of literature and the visual arts for various magazines and organizations such as Biblion (The National Library Service).

Some of his poetry collections are: Stadskoorts (1979), Spertijd (1982) and Curfew, (by American translator Catherine East, in 2000), Intriges (1986), Tropendrift / Tropical Drift (2003, bilingual edition in both Dutch and English, by British translator John Irons) and Drijfjacht (2005). His novels are Dood Tij (1988) and Butijn, Het Boze Oog (1992).

The poetry book Linguisticum (1994) was translated in three languages: in English by Texas-based writer Sandi Stromberg, in French by Thérèse Trine and in German by Michael Malm. Dutch composer Jan Walraven put the poems to music for his cd Linguisticum (1997). In 2006 the collection Tropendrift / Tropical Drift appeared on double-cd in compositions by Dirk Stromberg (USA), recited by Douglas Cohen (USA).

In 2003 Albert Hagenaars was nominated for a literary prize of the Province of Noord-Brabant and in 2007 he was awarded twice: he won the first prize of the Haft Foundation (Stichting Haft) as well as the Sakko Award, sponsored on a yearly basis by the Dutch branch of oil company Tamoil, for his books and activities over the past 25 years.

His many travels include the United States, South America and, especially, the Far East. Apart from his main theme ―love in all its facets― travel, intercultural relations and alienation thus play an important role in his novels and poetry. Albert Hagenaars presently lives in The Netherlands and, during the summertime, on the island of Java in Indonesia, his wife's native country.

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