Michaël Zeeman

Michaël Zeeman (Marken, 12 September 1958 - Rotterdam, 27 July 2009) was a prominent Dutch journalist, writer, and literary critic. In 1991 he received the C. Buddingh' Award (an annual award, named for C. Buddingh', for the best Dutch poetry debut) for Beeldenstorm, and in 2002 he was awarded the Gouden Ganzenveer, given to people who have significantly contributed to Dutch literary culture. He died in July 2009 at the age of 50, of a brain tumor.

Biography

Zeeman was born in Marken, a small, mainly Protestant town north of Amsterdam, in a pastor's family. His father wanted him to study theology, but Zeeman left faith and family behind to study philosophy in Utrecht and Groningen, though he never got his degree. He worked in a bookstore in Leeuwarden and began reviewing literature.

Literary career and criticism

Since 1991, Zeeman wrote columns and essays for the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, on poetry, prose fiction and non-fiction, music, theater, and visual arts. He also published a number of poetry and short story collections. For two years he was the editor of the arts section of de Volkskrant, but lost that position because he was notoriously difficult to work with; afterward, he worked free lance, and for a while was the paper's cultural correspondent in Rome. His knowledge of literature was immense (he was compared to Kees Fens, the most widely recognized Dutch critic]]), as was his influence as a critic; especially notable was his feud with Joost Zwagerman, one of the most prominent writers of the Netherlands since the late 1980s, whose novel Chaos en rumoer was "publicly executed" in Zeeman's television program.

Television career

Starting in the mid 1990s, Zeeman presented two literary programs for VPRO television which gained national recognition, Kamer met Uitzicht and Zeeman met Boeken (1995-2002), for which he interviewed writers such as Jeanette Winterson and Philip Roth.

External links

• Zeeman's columns for de Volkskrant, 2008-2009: "Alle artikelen van deze auteur (Michael Zeeman)". de Volkskrant. Retrieved 2009-07-28. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)