Bob den Uyl

Who was Bob den Uyl?

Jacob den Uyl was a Dutch writer of mostly short stories. His writing style is mostly ironic and observant. The most prominent theme in his work is the purposelessness and absurdity of existence. His earlier work consists mostly of absurd stories. In his later work, the focus of his writing shifted to more autobiographic stories, mostly concerned with travels in neighbouring countries of The Netherlands. Recurring elements in his work are:

His experiences as a child during World War II

World War I

His love for bicycle racing

His alcohol use

The city of Rotterdam

During his lifetime Den Uyl won the following prizes in literature:

In 1965, the “Prozaprijs” conferred by the city of Amsterdam for Vogels Kijken

In 1968, the “Anna Blaman-prijs” for Een zachte fluittoon

In 1976, the “Multatuli-prijs” for Gods wegen zijn duister en zelden aangenaam

In 2004, the editorial board of the VPRO-Gids established the Bob den Uyl prize for travel stories. Several collected stories have been posthumously published. In 2008, Nico Keuning published Bob den Uyl's biography.