Mensje van Keulen
Biography
Mensje van Keulen (b. 1946) first wrote exclusively for adults: Bleekers zomer (Bleeker’s Summer, 1972) was her remarkable first novel. It is now considered a modern Dutch literary classic, and so is her short-story collection Allemaal tranen (So Many Tears), published in the same year. In the eighties, inspired by her son, she started writing for children as well. Since then several juvenile stories and the nonsensical ABC Van Aap tot Zet (From Ape to Zest, 1990) have appeared, with powerful caricatures and exaggerations in expressive language, enlivened with an effervescent humour. Her first children’s book, the crazy Tommie Station (Tommy Station, 1985), was immediately awarded a Silver Slate Pencil and made into a theatre spectacle. In 1987 the Cinderella-like fairy-tale Polle de orgeljongen – of het ijskoude hart van Mora (Polle The Organ Boy – Or Mora’s Ice Cold Heart) appeared. Vrienden van de maan (Friends Of The Moon, 1989), an exciting vampire story, was awarded the biannual Nienke van Hichtum Prize, and Meneer Ratti (Mr Ratty, 1992) is about a nasty man who is shown, deep in his heart, to be human after all. For adults Van Keulen published altogether more than ten novels and story collections, her latest novel being De laatste gasten (The Last Guests, 2007). Van Keulen’s writing is characterized by carefully developed narratives and well-constructed plots. Hella S. Haasse lauded her ability to create a rounded character in a few sentences.
Titles
Friends Of The Moon (Vrienden van de maan, 1989)
In contrast to many other vampire stories Vrienden van de maan is not only exciting but also a literary feat. The story’s vampire family Morlando is thoroughly devilish. More than that it is about evil as a deliberately cultivated family trait which is seen as something to be proud of.
Mr. Ratty (Meneer Ratti, 1992)
The humour Van Keulen demonstrates in Friends Of The Moon also makes Meneer Ratti (‘Mr Ratty’) into a jewel with a sting. Meneer Ratti is a shabby ‘streetcomber’. He lives in a musty cellar and wanders around the rubbish in the night with apram, sniffing around to see if there is anything to his taste there.
The Last Guests (De laatste gasten, 2007)
Mensje van Keulen manages to build an almost incessant tension into her writing. The reader has the constant feeling that something is about to happen: a crime, a murder, or some other calamity. There’s only one remedy: to keep on reading. In her most recent novel, De laatste gasten (The Last Guests), the main character, Florrie, is raised by her aunt Lena, a hairdresser of easy virtue, adept at backhanders.
Love has no Brains (Liefde heeft geen hersens, 2012)
We find ourselves in a seemingly ordinary situation of the sort Mensje van Keulen favours for her stories and novels. She is a subtle storyteller with a sharp eye for significant, often slightly bizarre details that give her work a melancholy atmosphere and considerable power. Her characters are not superheroes, indeed they could be the man or woman next door. In Liefde heeft geen hersens (Love has no Brains) a slightly shabby block of flats serves as the realistic facade behind which all kinds of things turn out to be happening.
Authors & Titles
Translated Titles
- Allemal Tränen (Allemaal tranen). Hamburg: Nautilus / Nemo Press, 1981
- Ein trister Sommer (Bleekers zomer). Göttingen: Bert Schlender, 1982
- Die Glückliche (De gelukkige). Zürich etc.: Arche, 2003
- Continued...