Author Nominee: Belgium

Anne Provoost
Belgium, Author

Interesting is something that is contrary, that tastes different from what I expected, that startles me, or makes me burst out laughing. Interesting is complex and many layered, which is not the same as difficult or complicated.

- Anne Provoost

According to critic Vanessa Joosen, this statement is what typifies the writing of Anne Provoost: her stories are challenging and demanding of her readers, asking to be explored on different levels and questioning certainties.'That she has managed to offer such stories to readers of all ages is proof of her insight into the child's psychology and her extraordinary talent as a children's author.'

Provoost was born in Belgium in 1964 and studied literature at the University of Leuven (Louvain). Her first novel, Mijn tante is een grindewal was published in 1990 and won two of Belgium's main children's book awards. It was the first book dealing with child sexual abuse published in the Low Countries. Following this, she produced several books for beginner readers, but her next book for older readers Vallen, published in 1994, also dealt with a gritty theme, that of the allure of extreme right-wing rhetoric. Following its translation into English, it was made into a feature film, Falling, starring Jill Clayburgh.

She likes to spend several years on each of her books, which is indicative of the thoughtful nature of her writing, and her interest in exploring new and frequently challenging topics. De roos en het zwijn, a retelling of 'Beauty and the Beast', is set in Antwerp during the Middle Ages; while its magic realism elements make it a very different sort of story from some of her others, in it she continues to question major themes of sexuality, death and religion, while offering no easy answers.

Many of Provoost's books are published for adults as well as for children, and her most recent book is an adult novel set in Australia, told from the perspective of a young girl. She also writes as a literary critic and has written a series of analyses of the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. Her books have been translated into many languages, and she has received awards in Belgium and internationally. In 2006 De arkvaarders (2001) was longlisted for the adult literature award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.