Back | Events
Memorial for Dutch Writer Maarten Maartens
On September 26 the writer Maarten Maartens will be commemorated
Fri, Sep 25 - Fri, Sep 25 2015
On September 26 the writer Maarten Maartens will be commemorated on “De Zonheuvel”, Holland. Did you know he only wrote in English and his books are for sale in the US? You can buy his books here.
About Maarten
Maartens’ debut was in 1885, when he produced an English-written and conventional volume of poetry named “The Morning of a Love and Other Poems.” Subsequent to this first bundle, he wrote two other poetic dramas. He became more well-known with the publication of “The Sin of Joost Aveling (1889)”, which is also written in English, but this story takes place in Holland. His real breakthrough came with his in 1892 written novel: “God’s Fool”. Between 1885 and 1914, Maarten wrote 14 novels, a bunch of short stories, a few volumes of poetry and some plays. His very last bundle is called “Gedichten”, which was written in 1914 under the alias “Joan van den Heuvel.”
All Maarten’s work was produced by English publishers, leaving him relatively unknown in Dutch literary circles; his work was not that well known in the Netherlands. Why did he choose to write in English? In his first volume of poetry he responds to that question: “I have dared to write in the language I love best”. This statement did not add to his popularity is his home country; he became famous in the UK, America and Germany, but the Dutch people stayed quite ignorant of Maarten Maartens. He called himself Maarten Maartens he says, “merely because it was an alias with a Dutch look that English readers might possibly be able to pronounce.”
About His Work
Like mentioned before, Maarten wrote 14 novels, a bunch of short stories, a few volumes of poetry and some plays. In honour of this memorial the Dutch publisher Meulenhoff issues a reprint of the novel “God’s Fool”, which accounted for Maarten’s breakthrough and international success.
His grand-nephew John Schwartz published the summarizations of his novels this summer for the purpose of the 100-year commemoration. They are available at Amazon.