 | |
| Parent company | WPG Uitgevers |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1943 |
| Country of origin | Netherlands |
| Headquarters location | Amsterdam |
| Key people | Geert Lubberhuizen Robert Ammerlaan Hans Nijenhuis [1] |
| Publication types | Books |
| Official website | http://www.debezigebij.nl/ |
De Bezige Bij ("the busy bee") is one of the most important literary publishing companies in the Netherlands. [2] [3]
The company was founded illegally in 1943, during the German occupation of the Netherlands by Geert Lubberhuizen ; its first publication was a poem by Jan Campert called De Achttien Dooden ("The eighteen dead"), which describes the execution of 15 resistance fighters and three communists. The poem was sold to raise money for Jewish children who were placed with Dutch families; when it was published, in the spring of 1943, Campert had already died in the Neuengamme concentration camp. [3] When the German occupier rounded up students for the Arbeitseinsatz, Lubberhuizen hid in the attic of Maarten Vink, a surgeon, and ran the press from there. [4]
The name is derived from one of Lubberhuizen's aliases, "Bas." After he had signed a note, "Bas (busy)," an English-speaking friend joked, "Bas, busy as a bee can be," which led to the current name. [4] [5]
In 1997, De Bezige Bij became part of the Weekbladpersgroep, though it was to keep its editorial independence and its cooperative structure. [6]
In 2020, all employees of the Thomas Rap publisher left De Bezige Bij for more autonomy. [7]
Writers and poets published by De Bezige Bij include:
de Volkskrant is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000.
Jan Remco Theodoor Campert was a Dutch journalist, theater critic and writer who lived in Amsterdam. During the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II Campert was arrested for aiding Jews. He was held in the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he died.
Simon Vinkenoog was a Dutch poet, spoken word poet and writer. He was the editor of the anthology Atonaal (Atonal), which launched the Dutch "Fifties Movement".
Remco Campert was a Dutch author, poet and columnist.
The Anne Vondeling prize, named after the politician Anne Vondeling a member of the Dutch Labour Party, is an annual award in The Netherlands given to journalists who write in a clear manner concerning political subjects.
Uitgeverij Lannoo Groep is a Belgian publishing group, based in Tielt, with assets in Belgium and the Netherlands. Its Belgian subsidiary is Uitgeverij Lannoo. Its Dutch subsidiary is LannooMeulenhoff. Over the years Lannoo evolved from Catholic and Flemish to an open, commercial publishing house.
The P.C. Hooft Award, inaugurated in 1948, is a Dutch-language literary lifetime-achievement award named after 17th-century Dutch poet and playwright Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft. The award is made annually.
Gerrit Jan Komrij was a Dutch poet, novelist, translator, critic, polemic journalist and playwright. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s writing poetry that sharply contrasted with the free-form poetry of his contemporaries. He acquired a reputation for his prose in the late 1970s, writing acerbic essays and columns often critical of writers, television programs, and politicians. As a literary critic and especially as an anthologist he had a formative influence on Dutch literature: his 1979 anthology of Dutch poetry of the 19th and 20th centuries reformed the canon, and was followed by anthologies of Dutch poetry of the 17th and 18th centuries, of Afrikaans poetry, and of children's poetry. Those anthologies and a steady stream of prose and poetry publications solidified his reputation as one of the country's leading writers and critics; he was awarded the highest literary awards including the P. C. Hooft Award (1993), and from 2000 to 2004 he was the Dutch Dichter des Vaderlands. Komrij died in 2012 at age 68.
Komrij's Patentwekker is a book of humorous poetry by Dutch author Gerrit Komrij, first published in 1974. The book contains four poems which outline a fictional invention—an alarm clock that consists of a burning candle inserted in the sleeper's anus, containing markings for each hour to be spent sleeping. The deeper the candle is inserted, the earlier the sleeper rises; the inventor acquires a patent on his idea. The four poems are formalist, like the rest of Komrij's poetry. They have three quatrains each, rhyming a b a b in pentametric lines.
De Arbeiderspers is a Dutch publishing company, started as a socialist enterprise. The name means 'The Workers' Press'.
The Gouden Ganzenveer is a Dutch cultural award initiated in 1955, given annually to a person or organization of great significance to the written and printed word. Recipients are selected by an academy of people from the cultural, political, scientific, and corporate world. Members meet once a year; the winner is announced each year in January and honored in April. From 1995 to 1998 the award was granted by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Uitgeversbond, the Royal Dutch Organization of Publishers; since 2000, it is granted by a separate organization.
Hans Antonius Faverey was a Dutch poet of Surinam descent. Besides being a poet, he was a lecturer at the psychology department of the Universiteit Leiden.
Jan Andries Blokker Sr. was a Dutch journalist, columnist, publicist, writer, and amateur historian. In The Netherlands, Blokker was best known for his columns in De Volkskrant, which he wrote between 1968 and 2006.
Q & Q was a Dutch television series, broadcast by the Katholieke Radio Omroep (KRO) in 1974. With an average audience of three million viewers, the show is one of the highest-viewed programs in the history of Dutch television.
The Republican Society is a Dutch republican movement, founded on 11 September 1996 in the Prinsenhof in Delft, at the initiative of Pierre Vinken. Its aim is to abolish the monarchy of the Netherlands.
De Harmonie is a Dutch publishing company best known today as the publisher of the Harry Potter series of books since the 1990s, though their largest success didn't come until the 2000s and since 14 February 2008 they are located on Herengracht in Amsterdam.
Thomas Blondeau was a Flemish writer, poet and journalist. He studied literature at the University of Leuven and the University of Leiden. He wrote for newspapers including Mare, Deng, De Revisor, De Standaard and Dif.
Hans Renders is a professor of history and biography theory at the University of Groningen. Since 2004, he is also the head of the university's "Biography Institute".
Paul Marijnis was a Dutch writer and poet.
Erik Jan Willem Menkveld was a Dutch poet.
Media related to Bezige Bij at Wikimedia Commons
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
 | This Dutch corporation or company article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a publishing company is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
