Ward Ruyslinck
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Raymond De Belser (b. Berchem, 17 June 1929), pseudonym Ward Ruyslinck is a Flemish writer. He is the son of Leo De Belser and Germaine Nauwelaers. His father was librarian at an oil company, and Ward Ruyslinck grew up in a Roman Catholic family. During the war the family moved to Mortsel.
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[edit] Early life
Already as a twelve year old he writes a novel: Vaargeulen (E: chanels). His father, who himself wrote the novel Gepantserde beschaving (E: Armoured civilsation), sent this novel to Stijn Streuvels, who returned the novel unread, but with an accompanying letter full of recommendations. The manuscript of this novel was lost during an air raid in 1943, which devastated their house. In those days he wrote a number of poems and stories, of which some were published in the daily Het Vlaamsche land.
After he finished high school in 1947, he attended the University of Ghent to study Germanic philology. However after a year he drops out of the university. The death of its five years older brother in 1948, made a big impression on him. He wrote five poems on this occasion, and which were distributed among family and friends as a souvenir.
[edit] Career
After he had worked for a while as a translator, for a traveling agency and at an oil company, he is appointed as deputy librarian in the picture cabinet of the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp. He marries Alice Burm, and together they have one son, Chris.
His collection of poems Fanaal in de mist (1956) is rewarded with the Poëzieprijs der Algemene Kunstkamer in België. In 1957, he published the short story De ontaarde slapers. In this book an important topic in his work becomes prominent: the unequal battle of people with the community in which the individual comes off worst.
His most read book Wierook en tranen (E: Incense and tears) appears in 1958. In 1961, with the novel Het dal van Hinnom he breaks with church and society. In 1964, he moves to Pulle, and in the same year he writes the novel Het reservaat about the illusion of individual freedom. For this work he receives the Prijs voor Letterkunde van de Vlaamse provincies. In 1966, he writes the bittersweet fairy tale Golden Ophelia.
During the sixties and seventies he makes a large number of journeys, partly for newspapers or illustrated magazines for which he writes articles, and he visits Poland, the Soviet Union, Canada and Argentina. In 1975, he becomes a member of The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium, and he becomes its President in 1985. In 1980, he is awarded the first Europalia prize for his entire oeuvre.
Ward Ruyslinck retires in 1984. After his wife dies in 1990, he moves to Meise. He lives there with Monika Lo Cascio, and together they write De speeltuin in 1992.
In the work of Ruyslinck there is a social commitment, coupled to a pessimistic view of life, behind humor and satire. Several of his works were adapted for theatre. De slakken, Golden Ophelia and Wierook en tranen were converted into movies.
[edit] Bibliography
- 1951 - De citer van Tijl
- 1952 - Het huis onder de beuken
- 1953 - De essentie van het zwijgen
- 1956 - Fanaal in de mist
- 1957 - De ontaarde slapers
- 1958 - Wierook en tranen
- 1959 - De madonna met de buil
- 1961 - Het dal van Hinnom
- 1962 - De stille zomer
- 1964 - Het reservaat
- 1965 - De paardevleeseters
- 1965 - Drek- en driftliteratuur
- 1966 - Golden Ophelia
- 1968 - Het ledikant van Lady Cant
- 1969 - De Karakoliërs
- 1970 - De apokatastasis of het apocriefe boek van Galax Niksen
- 1971 - De krekelput
- 1971 - Neozoïsch. Parapoëtische montages
- 1972 - De heksenkring
- 1973 - De verliefde akela
- 1974 - Het ganzenbord
- 1976 - In naam van de beesten
- 1977 - De sloper in het slakkehuis
- 1977 - Valentijn van Uytvanck
- 1978 - Op toernee met Leopold Sondag
- 1979 - Alle verhalen
- 1980 - Wurgtechnieken
- 1981 - Open brief aan de gevoelsafschaffers
- 1982 - De boze droom het medeleven
- 1983 - Leegstaande huizen
- 1983 - Open beeldboek
- 1985 - De uilen van Minerva
- 1987 - Stille waters
- 1988 - Hunkerend gevangen
- 1989 - IJlings naar nergens
- 1992 - De speeltuin
- 1993 - De claim van de duivel
- 1995 - Het geboortehuis
- 1997 - De bovenste trede
- 1999 - Traumachia
[edit] Awards
- 1958 - Romanprijs van de provincie Antwerpen
- 1958 - Romanprijs van de Kempische Cultuurdagen (Hilvarenbeek)
- 1959 - Referendum van de Vlaamse letterkundigen
- 1960 - Arkprijs van het Vrije Woord
- 1960 - Referendum van de Vlaamse letterkundigen
- 1962 - Referendum van de Vlaamse letterkundigen
- 1962 - De prijs van de Vlaamse lezer
- 1964 - August Beernaertprijs van de Koninklijke Academie Voor Nederlandse Taal-en letterkunde
- 1967 - Prijs voor Letterkunde van de Vlaamse Provinciën
- 1975 - Het Gulden Boek van de Lezende Jeugd (V.B.V.B.)
- 1976 - Romanprijs van de provincie Antwerpen
- 1980 - Europaliaprijs voor Literatuur
- 2005 - Prijs voor Letterkunde van de provincie Antwerpen voor het gezamenlijke oeuvre
