Bart Moeyaert: Author – Belgium

If children’s literature is to take itself seriously, it will have to acknowledge that it is part of culture, and therefore has to be as broad as it can be.

B. Moeyaert

bart moeyaert was born in Bruges in 1964. He was the seventh son, and by tradition, he could claim the King of Belgium as one of his godfathers. In such a large family, it was easy for Moeyaert to get lost and disappear. He enjoyed drawing, cutting, and pasting, and he liked to build things such as tree houses. He was also well read across many literary genres.

When he was ten years old, Moeyaert wrote his first story, and he started his first book when he was eleven years old. However, Moeyaert’s father discouraged him from writing because he believed that it was not a profession. This did not stop Moeyaert from writing, and in 1995, writing became his profession. However, this was not without its own problems. While he was writing De Melkweg (The Milky Way, 2011), Moeyaert was also serving as Poet Laureate of Antwerp (2006). This proved to be difficult and made him quite cynical. It took him a year and a half to be able to believe again that people were fundamentally good and beautiful.

Literary genre is not that important to Moeyaert because he does not write within just one specific genre; instead, he writes texts that cover almost all of the literary genres. This includes not only novels, short stories, and poetry but also theater, audio books, and song texts. Many of his books bring together his writing and music, such as De Hemel (Heaven), 2015) and De Schepping (The Creation, 2003) where CDs come with the books. In connection with music, Moeyaert believes that the tone of a piece is very important; it is something that must be maintained throughout the piece.

As a writer, Moeyaert practices the technique of “show, don’t tell” masterfully. For example, in Blote handen (Bare Hands, 1995), we as readers are in the field with Ward when his dog is killed, and together we mourn and vow revenge. We are also guests in the dining room when Betjeman suddenly finds his Christmas dinner in his lap instead of on the table.

Moeyaert has received numerous awards for his diverse works. This includes several nominations for both the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. In 2014, the Frankfurter Buchmesse appointed Moeyaert their artistic director for the guest of honor program in 2016.