Bart Moeyaert, from author to public figure

Bart Moeyaert has been writing for decennia. Ever since his debut, Duet met valse noten (which was published when he was nineteen years old), he has acquired great fame both in Belgium and internationally. In 2019, he won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, perhaps the most important international prize voor children’s literature. His personalexperiences and the age phases he went through influenced the ways in which his authorship evolved. Four experiences were especially important: meeting the British children’s literature author Aidan Chambers, writing early reader books, performing for broad audiences, and being the Antwerp city poet. These factors all contributed greatly to his personal and artistic beliefs, and to his ideas on what his readers and society in general were in need of. 

Joosen, Vanessa. Bart Moeyaert as Writer, Author, Performer, and Public Figure: That’s Also What Literature Can Be”’.

Bookbird, vol. 58, no. 3, 2020, pp. 38–41.

doi: 10.1353/BKB.2020.0060