Derk Visser
Derk Visser (b. 1959) is a youth worker by profession. He writes about problems that he knows inside out because of his day job, although he has stressed in interviews that he does not write about his work. His empathy for young people is palpable and, more importantly, he has a great understanding of their sense of humour, which is infectious but not always appropriate. His talent as a writer was slow to reveal itself; he says that, as a child, he had reading difficulties. He made his literary debut in 2005 at the age of 47, with Patchouli. His career really took off with Patatje oorlog (2007), Landjepik (2009) and Prikkeldraad (2011). In 2012 he was awarded the Charlotte Köhler Stipendium to support the expansion of his oeuvre. Visser lives in the Frisian countryside with his family. He has two daughters and a son.
