About M. Vasalis
M. Vasalis, pseudonym of Margaretha Droogleever Fortuyn-Leenmans, born on 13 February 1909 in The Hague and died on 16 October 1998 in Roden, is a Dutch poet and novelist. Although she only published three works during her lifetime, she is one of the most widely read Dutch poets in her country. Vasalis spent nine months in South Africa, where her first published short story, Onweer, was set in 1940. The following year, her collection of poems Parken en woestijnen earned her the Lucy B. and C.W. van der Hoogt Prize in Nederland.After the publication of Vergezichten en gezichten in 1951, she was attacked in the newspapers by the writer Rudy Kousbroek in the magazine Vomit. This was one of the few times she became involved in a literary debate. At the time, she was a member of the editorial board of the magazine Libertinage, which she left in 1953 following controversy. The following year, a first collection of 58 poems was published by GA van Oorschot after she broke with her previous publisher, having discovered that he had worked with Jan de Vries, a collaborator with Nazi Germany. It was the last collection of poems published during her lifetime.
After her death in 16 October 1998 in Roden, a collection of poems entitled De oude kustlijn, a compilation of unpublished texts, was published.
Browse all poems and texts published on M. Vasalis
