Wim Hofman is a Dutch author. After elementary school he joined the seminary in Sterksel

Sterksel

Sterksel is a village in the southern Netherlands, near Eindhoven. It lies within the municipality Heeze-Leende. It's the smallest village of three in the municipality.-External links:*...

, because he wanted to become a missionary. He started writing books early, and published his first novel, "Welwel, de zeer grote tovenaar & zes andere doldwaze verhalen over ridders, tovenaars, matrozen, krentenbollen, cowboys, indianen & over een planeet" in 1969. On February 2, 1970 he married Toke Mertens and moved to Vlissingen, where he still lives. He has two children. Wim Hofman also illustrates his own books, and paints. He won awards for a number of his books.

Notable Books

Wim Hofman wrote a large number of books. Some of the important ones are described here. A number of his books have been translated into German, but only one book ("Straf") was translated into English ("A Good Hiding"). His books contain many puns and twists.

Koning Wikkepokluk de merkwaardige zoekt een rijk

This book, published in 1974, took a long time to write. It describes the adventures of King Wikkepokluk the odd, who is looking ("zoekt") for his kingdom ("rijk"). It feels a bit like a fairy tale (it even opens with "Once upon a time"). The book is supposedly influenced by Finnegan's Wake

Finnegan's Wake

"Finnegan's Wake" is a ballad that arose in the 1850s in the music-hall tradition of comical Irish songs. The song is a staple of the Irish folk-music group, The Dubliners, who have played it on many occasions and included it on several albums, and is especially well known to fans of The Clancy...

 and Ubu Roi

Ubu Roi

Ubu Roi is a play by Alfred Jarry, premiered in 1896. It is a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd and Surrealism. It is the first of three stylised burlesques in which Jarry satirises power, greed, and their evil practices — in particular the propensity of the complacent bourgeois to abuse the...

 and was awarded with the Gouden Penseel for the beautiful ink drawings that Wim added to the story.

Het vlot

The title translates to "The Raft". The book, published in 1989, describes the town of Vlissingen after the bombings of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The main character is a little boy, who is trying to escape, and decides to build a raft, to be able to travel like Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic Mark Twain novel.Huckleberry Finn may also refer to:*Huckleberry Finn , a fictional character in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer...

. The book was awarded the highest prize for Dutch children books, the Gouden Griffel

Gouden Griffel

The Gouden Griffel is an important award given to authors of children's or teenager's literature in the Netherlands.Since 1971, it is awarded each year during the Dutch Children's Books Week, by the Stichting Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek for the best children's books written in...

.

Zwart als inkt

This book was published in 1998 and its title translates to "Black as ink". The subtitle ("is het verhaal van Sneeuwwitje en de zeven dwergen") means "is the story of Snow white and the seven dwarves". At the surface this book is indeed the well known fairy tale, but it is more tragic, cruel, touching and funny than the original. Like other books of Wim Hofman ("Klein Duimpje", "Straf"/"A Good Hiding") it shows the powerless position of children in the world. "Zwart als inkt" also received the Gouden Griffel.

External links

• Wim's blog