Joke van Leeuwen

Guest of the ilb 2006

Joke van Leeuwen was born in The Hague in 1962. When she was 14 years old she moved to Belgium with her family. In her early youth she came into contact with various forms of artistic expression. She studied art, graphic design and history in Brussels and Antwerp. After winning the famous Cabaret Festival in Delft, Joke van Leeuwen went on tour with her own cabaret programmes until 1985. Well known as an author of children's books, in 1979 she was honoured for »Een huis met zeven kamers« (Engl: A house with seven chambers) with the »Gouden Penseel« Price. In almost thirty books for children and young people her roots in cabaret have always been noticeable.

In Joke van Leeuwen's work, language and illustration form an inseparable unit. Sketches, collages, marks, icons and plans flow easily into the text which consists of a varied pattern of monologue, dialogue, description, letters, notes, letter games and onomatopoeia.

»Deesje« (1987), one of the author's most well known books, tells of a quiet, pensive girl who rarely says what she is thinking and likes best reading and writing in her scrapbook. Half comic-like and half with comic effect, the author captures in the text and drawings the confusions which Deesje sets in motion when one day she has to visit her half-aunt in the big city. For »Deesje«, van Leeuwen was awarded in 1986 the most prestigious prizes in Holland for children's books: the »Gouden Griffel« for text and the »Zilveren Penseel« for illustrations, and in 1988 the book was awarded the »Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis«.

Joke van Leeuwen's characters often have allegorical, fairy-tale features. They have no genealogy, only an approximate age, school is not mentioned, where the parents leve is left often unclear. So it is, too, with Birdikins, half child and half bird, who is lovingly taken in by a childless couple. In »lep!«, which appeared in 1996, the author unrolls an enigmatic parable concerning the friction between love and care on the one hand and being able to let go on the other. »lep!« was awarded in Holland the »Zilveren Griffel« and in Belgium the »Gouden Uil«.

In »Kukel«, published in 1998, the author's theme is a child's longing for a genuine home. Bussel is a lonely boy who feels he is a nuisance and hanger-on in in the shadwo of his seven beautifully singing sisters. Charmingly illustrated, this captivating story tells of a clumsy child with an exuberant imagination. Van Leeuwen's great solidarity with the child in a society which imposes its will on young people leads here also to a fairy tale about childhood longing, in which adventure, acceptance and freedom play an important role.

In “Weißnich” van Leeuwen tells the enchanting story of a small girl, who goes – with the little creature „Weißnich“ – on a search for the story from which it could have originated. Van Leeuwen conveys the pair’s eventful travels through the different stories refreshingly, inventively and artistically with her illustrations. “Weißnich” was awarded the Luchs des Jahres 2005 and nominated for the 2006 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis. In „Rissi, das Kind, das alles wusste“ (Engl: Rissi, the child that knew everything) van Leeuwen throws an ironic glance on modern media. Rissi has an impressive memory, so think her parents, and so they sign her up for a quiz show. But Rissi has a secret prompter, who threatens to do something to her father unless she shares the millions of winnings with him. Joke van Leeuwen published “Bezoekjahren” (1998), a touching look at the experiences of the young Malik Blain, which tells the story of a family in Morocco in the seventies: A bitter fight begins to set Zami’s older brother Amrar free after he is arrested in the course of student unrest over the democratisation of the country.

Joke van Leeuwen also writes plays and works for television. In 2002 she was nominated for the renowned »Hans Christian Andersen Award«. The author is now living in Maastricht in the southern Netherlands.

© internationales literaturfestival berlin

Joke van Leeuwen online: www.jokevanleeuwen.com