Joke van Leeuwen

Joke van Leeuwen (b. 1952), who studied history at the University of Brussels, performs in cabaret and theatre shows as well as writing stories and poems for children (which she illustrates herself) and fiction and poetry for adults. A Dutch author, she has lived in Antwerp since 2002. From 2014 to 2017 she was chair of PEN Flanders. She has received innumerable awards for her multifaceted work, including the prestigious Theo Thijssen Prize, a three-yearly Dutch prize for children’s and young adult literature, and the Constantijn Huygens Prize. For her adult novel ‘Celebration of the Beginning’ she won the AKO Literature Prize.

Photo © Koos Breukel