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Face of Flanders

Joost Vandecasteele

Vandecasteele is not only a writer; he's also a stand-up comedian. The prize goes to his short story collection, Hoe de wereld perfect fonctioneert zonder mij (How the World Works Perfectly Without Me), but he already has his next book out. Titled Opnieuw en opnieuw en opnieuw (Again and Again and Again), it's a proper novel this time: he describes short stories, a form he adopted in order to be published in literary magazines and which have already brought him prizes and esteem, as "really low in the pecking order, just above poetry".

Vandecasteele, 41, studied dramatic arts at the RITS academy in Brussels' Dansaert area, and he can still be found just up the street at McDonald's, which he considers an office away from home. In 2001, his monologue Sparta 2010 won the Theater aan Zee prize in Ostend. In 2005, after some initial adventures in the wilder world of stand-up, he joined up with theatre collective Abattoir Fermé and turned to political satire and "apocalyptic humour" - two themes which would arise again in his stories.

By 2009, when he left Abattoir Fermé, he had published in the literary press, winning in 2007 the aptly-named Brandende Pen (Burning Pen) for the best short story in Dutch.

As a stand-up, he's something else. He took part in the Comedy Casino Cup series on Canvas in 2008 by "doing" Richard Pryor, whose routines he had studied.

Vandecasteele took to the stage wearing no make-up, his T-shirt riding up over his belly, smoking a cigarette and speaking broadly accented Flemish. "I'm not a romantic comedian," he warned. "I'm going to say some filthy things."

But Vandecasteele wants to be thought of as a writer first. "I'm more proud of this prize", he said, than of his work in theatre. "I've also proved I have more than five pages at a time in me."

www.joostvandecasteele.be

(October 20, 2024)