30 Oct '13
Van Leeuwen wins AKO Literature Prize
by Lisa Bradshaw, editor-in-chief, Flanders Today
Summary
Joke van Leeuwen has won this year’s AKO Literature Prize for Dutch language prose
Dutch author is a long-time resident of Antwerp
Joke van Leeuwen has won this year’s AKO Literature Prize for Dutch-language prose. The Dutch author is a long-time resident of Antwerp and once served at its City Poet. Van Leeuwen, 61, won the €50,000 prize for her historical novel Feest van het begin (Celebration at the Beginning), about the experiences of two cloistered women at the start of the French Revolution.
Van Leeuwen is known as a Renaissance woman: She writes poetry, prose and children’s literature and is also an illustrator. She was the only author living in Flanders nominated for the award this year. She was also nominated in 2009.
About the author
Lisa Bradshaw is the editor-in-chief of Flanders Today. She worked as an editor and journalist in her homeland, the United States, before moving to the awesome city of Ghent in 2004. If she’s not in the office, she’s probably at a film festival.
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