Tonke Dragt
Tonke Dragt | |
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.jpg) Tonke Dragt (1963) | |
| Born | Antonia Johanna Willemina Dragt 12 November 1930 Batavia, Dutch East Indies (Present day Jakarta, Indonesia) |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Alma mater | Royal Academy of Art, The Hague |
| Period | 1961–present |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Notable works | "De zevensprong", "De brief voor de koning" |
| Notable awards | Various |
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| Website | |
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Antonia "Tonke" Johanna Willemina Dragt (born 12 November 1930) is a Dutch writer and illustrator of children's literature. Her book De brief voor de Koning was chosen as the best Dutch youth book of the latter half of the twentieth century.
Biography
Antonia Johanna Willemina Dragt, better known as Tonke Dragt, was born in 1930 in Batavia on the Dutch East Indies (currently Jakarta in Indonesia). She spent the largest part of her youth there, including three years in a Japanese prisoner's camp during the Second World War between 1942 and 1945. She came to the Netherlands with her family after the war. She studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague and worked afterwards as a drawing teacher in secondary schools, living in The Hague.[1]
Tonke Dragt first published stories in the magazine Kris Kras, and her first book appeared in 1961.[2] She became one of the best known Dutch youth authors in 1962 with her second book, De brief voor de koning ("The Letter for the King"), which won the Gold Pen award (Gouden Griffel) for the best Dutch youth book of the year. She continued to produce at a high rhythm during the 1960s, but massively reduced the output of new work in the next decades, although collections of older short stories filled up many of the gaps.[3]
Apart from writing and illustrating her own books, Tonke Dragt also made illustrations for some other books, including work by Paul Biegel, E. Nesbit, Rosemary Sutcliff, and the novel Elidor by Alan Garner.[4]
The work of Tonke Dragt has been translated into many languages, including German, English, Afrikaans, Czech, Spanish, Danish and Indonesian.
Style and themes
Many of the books and stories by Tonke Dragt are situated in a fantasy or science fiction environment, although usually closely related to or intertwined with the real world.[2] De brief voor de koning, Geheimen van het Wilde Woud, and a few short stories, are set in a fictional medieval world. Torenhoog en mijlenbreed, Ogen van tijgers, and related stories, are near-future science fiction stories, where the action happens on Venus and Earth. De Torens van Februari alternates between our world and a parallel world. De Zevensprong is most firmly set in a realistic setting.
Tonke Dragt uses elements of legends and fables, most clearly in Verhalen van de tweelingbroers. Her stories are mainly focused on one or a few male protagonists, often teenagers. They go on a personal quest, a search that may be externalized in an item like the letter in De brief voor de koning, but which results in a discovery of their own persona.[2]
Success of The Letter for the King
The book The Letter for the King (Dutch: De brief voor de Koning) has sold over 1 million copies so far.[5] The book has been translated many times, and reached its 22nd printing in Dutch in 2007.[6]
In 2007, it premiered as a musical theater piece. This was the second theater production based on the works of Tonke Dragt, after an adaptation of De Zevensprong.[6]
In 2015 a sequel, The Secrets of the Wild Wood, was translated into English.
The film based on the book, starring Derek de Lint was released in the summer of 2008.[7]
Bibliography
| Title | Year | Translations | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verhalen van de tweelingbroers | 1961 | German, Spanish | |
| De brief voor de koning | 1962 | Catalan, Danish, German, English, Estonian, French, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese and Czech, Hungarian | |
| De blauwe boekanier | 1964 | German | Offered for free as the yearly Kinderboekenweekgeschenk |
| Geheimen van het Wilde Woud | 1965 | Danish, German, Japanese, Spanish, English, Hungarian | Sequel to De brief voor de koning |
| De zevensprong | 1966 | Danish, German, Spanish | Later turned into a TV series |
| De trapeze | 1967 | Collection of stories | |
| De blauwe maan | 1968 | A series of 8 short books | |
| Torenhoog en mijlenbreed | 1969 | German, Czech, Afrikaans | |
| De torens van februari | 1973 | English, Spanish, German, Danish | |
| Water is gevaarlijk | 1977 | Collection of stories | |
| Het gevaarlijke venster en andere verhalen | 1979 | German, Spanish | Collection of stories |
| Ogen van tijgers | 1982 | German | Sequel to Torenhoog en mijlenbreed |
| Het geheim van de klokkenmaker, of De tijd zal het leren, of De tijd zal je leren | 1989 | German, Spanish | |
| Aan de andere kant van de deur | 1992 | German | Sequel to Het geheim van de klokkenmaker: an announced third part hasn't been published thus far. |
| De robot van de rommelmarkt / Route Z | 2001 | German, Slovenian | Two stories, one a prequel to Torenhoog en mijlenbreed |
| De blauwe maansteen | 2005 | German, Spanish | |
| Het dansende licht | 2005 | Collection of stories | |
| Wat niemand weet | 2007 | Illustrated by Annemarie van Haeringen | |
| Dichtbij ver van hier | 2009 | ||
| Als de sterren zingen | 2017 |
Awards
- 1963: Kinderboek van het Jaar (Children's book of the Year, the predecessor of the Gouden Griffel) for De brief voor de koning[2]
- 1971: Nienke van Hichtum Award for Torenhoog en mijlenbreed[8]
- 1976: Staatsprijs voor kinder- en jeugdliteratuur (the highest award in the Dutch language area for a youth author, can be won only once per author)[8]
- 1995: Buxtehuder Bulle, an Award for youth literature given by the city of Buxtehude, for the German translation of De torens van Februari[9]
- 2004: Griffel der Griffels for De brief voor de koning (award for the best Dutch children's book of the past fifty years)[8]
- 2005: Victorine Hefting Award, an award for women in The Hague who have contributed to the cultural emancipation of women[8]
Notes
- ^ Van Gool, Jef (1977). De wereld van Tonke Dragt. Refleks. Visies op jeugdliteratuur (in Dutch). Lier, Belgium: Van In. p. 75. ISBN 90-306-0604-5.
- ^ a b c d "Tonke Dragt" (in Dutch). Leopold. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ Van Gool, Jef (1977). Refleks. p. 76.
- ^ Van Gool, Jef (1977). Refleks. p. 77.
- ^ "De ambassade van Tonke Dragt" (in Dutch). De Standaard. 10 November 2005. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
- ^ a b Sonja De Jong (25 September 2007). "Tonke overtuigd: ridders zingen toch" (in Dutch). Het Parool. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
- ^ "Derek de Lint in De brief voor de koning" (in Dutch). Trouw. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Victorine Hefting-prijs 2005 voor Tonke Dragt" (in Dutch). The Hague. 13 May 2005. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
- ^ "Buxtehuder Bulle für "Lagune der Galeeren"" (in German). Abendblatt. 30 September 2005. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
External links
- Official website Template:Nl icon
- Biography at her publisher Leopold Template:Nl icon
