Jos Vandeloo

He grew up in a mining family from Zonhoven and graduated as a chemist for the mining industry. After the war he started working in the mine as a coal specialist and for this he travelled throughout Europe (up to 1953). At the same time he also studied Dutch and French literature at the Royal Academy and the Higher Institute for Arts in Antwerp. After his career in the mine (as deputy director), he became director of the Belgian division of the publisher Manteau, which published a number of his works. In the sixties he was for a while sports commentator for the Belgian Radio and Television (BRT). Since 1963 he has lived in Mortsel near Antwerp. He made his debut in 1955 with the collection of poems: Speelse parade (Playful parade) and became well known with the stories De muur (The wall) en Het gevaar (The danger). In 1982, he devoted himself full-time to writing. In his work he generally describes the negative impact of modern society, such as loneliness and alienation and he tries to strive for an idealistic, paradisaical environment. He not only wrote novels, stories and poetry but also wrote several screenplays for television and also theatre plays. His work has been translated into several European languages (such as Russian and Romanian) and he has won several awards.

Jos Vandeloo is recorded as having received Hilvarenbeek literary award.