Stefan Hertmans, Guerre et Térébenthine

Chantal Pattyn’s selection for her storefront.

“Wij waar geen eind aan komt” is an ode to the great and rich poetry oeuvre of Stefan Hertmans. Hertmans got international attention with his novels “War and Terpentine” and “The Convert”, both based on historical facts. This anthology shows the oeuvre in all its musicality and surprises with unexpected images and turns – just like life itself. Poet and writer Peter Verhelst, one of Hertmans’ literary kindred spirits and one of my colleague-curators of the Kunstenfestival Watou, made a surprising selection of poems that contains both published and previously unpublished work and deals with themes and motifs such as memory, history, love, eroticism, death, loss and vital melancholy. Peter Verhelst published new poetry himself: 2050 (De Bezige Bij).
Kunstenfestival Watou pays tribute to Stefan Hertmans this summer in the splendid castle of De Lovie, just a few miles from the village.
Chantal Pattyn

The book of poetry originally chosen by Chantal Pattyn is unfortunately not available in our bookshop but we can suggest you his two novels.

“Quand Stefan Hertmans entreprend la lecture des centaines de pages de notes laissées par son grand-père, il comprend que cette vie-là vaut la peine d’être racontée. Une enfance très pauvre à Gand, le rêve de devenir peintre, puis la césure indélébile de la Grande Guerre dans les tranchées de Flandre sont les étapes d’une existence emblématique de tout un siècle. Mais l’histoire d’Urbain Martien ne se réduit pas à ce traumatisme. Panorama puissant du siècle dernier, Guerre et Térébenthine est aussi une poignante saga familiale et le récit d’une passion.”