Ted van Lieshout

Ted van Lieshout (b. 1955) is a poet, writer and artist for children and adults. He studied at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and worked as a designer before moving on to writing and illustrating children’s books.

Children's books
Photo: Ben Kleyn

Van Lieshout is always looking for new styles and techniques in both words and pictures. His stories for children, collected in De allerliefste jongen van de hele wereld (The Dearest Boy in all the World, 1988) and Ik ben een held (I Am a Hero, 1991) are characterised by a melancholy humour. Mijn botjes zijn bekleed met deftig vel (My Bones Are Clothed with Classy Skin, Silver Slate Pencil 1987) and Multiple Noise (1992), his collections of poetry for children, are dominated by the search for security and identity.

Prizes

Van Lieshout has won many prizes, including the Gouden Griffel for his poetry collection Begin een torentje van niks. In 1998, his book Stilleven was published, his first title in which he laid out his vision of artworks and styles, and which may be read as a forerunner of the Paper Museums. His oeuvre includes the YA novel Gebr. (Bros.), which has been translated into a number of languages, as well as Boer Boris (Farmer Boris), his popular series for younger readers.

In 2009, Van Lieshout received the prestigious Theo Thijssen Prize for his oeuvre.

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