Snoek, Paul 1933–1981

[A pseudonym]

(Edmond Schietekat)

PERSONAL: Born December 17, 1933, in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium; died October 19, 1981, in Tielt, Belgium; married; wife's name Mylène; children: three. Education: Attended University of Ghent.

CAREER: Worked in family-owned textile factory; founder of import-export company; worked as a salesman, race-car driver, arts administrator, antiques dealer, and talk-show panelist; director of Flemish PEN Centre. Military service: Served in German Army, 1956–57.

AWARDS, HONORS: Ark prize, 1963; Belgian triennial state prize, 1968, for De zwarte muse.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

Archipel, De Sikkel (Antwerp, Belgium), 1954.

Noodbrug, De Sikkal (Antwerp, Belgium), 1955.

Aardrijkskunde, [Antwerp, Belgium], 1956.

Tussen vel en vlees, [Ghent, Belgium], 1956.

Ik rook een vredespijp, A.A.M. Stols ('s-Gravenhage, Demark), 1957.

Reptielen en amfibieën (prose), De Bezige Big (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1957.

De heilige gedichten, 1956–1958, Ontwikkeling (Antwerp, Belgium), 1959.

Hercules, Manteau (Brussels, Belgium), 1960.

Richelieu, Manteau (Brussels, Belgium), 1961.

Renaissance, Manteau (Brussels, Belgium), 1963.

Nostradamus, Manteau (Brussels, Belgium), 1964.

Op de grens van land en zee, 1964.

De zwarte muse, Manteau (Brussels, Belgium), 1967.

Gedichten 1954–1968, Manteau (The Hague, Netherlands), 1969.

Gedichten, Manteau ('s-Gravenhage, Denmark), 1971.

Gedichten voor Maria Magdalena, Spermalie, 1971.

Gedichten 1954–1970, Manteau (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1972.

Frankenstein, nagelaten gedichten, 1973.

Ik heb vannacht de liefde uitgevonden, 1973.

In the Sleep Trap: Poems, translation by Peter Nijmeier, Tangent Books (London, England), 1976.

Paul Snoek (collection), Uitgeverij de Nederlandsche Boekhandel (Antwerp, Belgium), 1977.

Welkom in mijn onderwereld, Manteau (Brussels, Belgium), 1978.

Schildersverdriet, Manteau (Brussels, Belgium), 1982.

Verzamelde gedichten, Manteau (Antwerp, Belgium), 1982.

Paul Snoek: een keuze uit de poëzie van Paul Snoek, Poëziecentrum (Ghent, Belgium), 1992.

Hercules; Richelieu; and Nostradamus, translation and introduction by Kendall Dunkelberg, København (Los Angeles, CA), 2000.

OTHER

(With others) A Quarter Century of Poetry from Belgium (poetry criticism), Manteau (Brussels, Belgium) 1971.

Bultaco 250 (prose), Manteau ('s-Gravenhage, Denmark), 1971.

Kwaak-en kruipdieren (prose), Manteau (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1972.

Een hondsdolle tijd (fiction), Manteau (Brussels, Belgium), 1978.

Verzameld scheppend proza (fiction), 1984.

SIDELIGHTS: Belgian poet Edmond Schietekat, who wrote under the pen name Paul Snoek, was known for the experimental work evident in his first published collections, Archipel and Noodbrug. His later poems reflected a cynical surrealism and a baroque yet modern way of painting his poetic pictures.

Kendall Dunkelberg noted in Dutch Poetry in Modern Times that "most critics view the prophetic voice which Snoek adopted in Hercules, Richelieu, and Nostradamus as a drastic departure from the experimental poetry of his early period, a departure prepared by the complete demolition of his earlier poetry in De heilige gedichten, 1956–1958." Dunkelberg wrote that in these three volumes of poetry "we have seen a pattern develop, one of birth, purification, possession by a spirit or idea, eventually death." The three volumes were published in one volume in English translation as Hercules; Richelieu; and Nostradamus in 2000.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Leus, Herwig, Ik ben steeds op doorreis: de wonderlijke avonturen van Paul Snoek in Vlaanderen, in Rusland en overal elders ter wereld, Manteau (Antwerp, Belgium), 1983.

Verleyen, Herwig, Paul Snoek getaaltekend, Kruispunt (Bruge, Belgium), 1987.

Snapper, Johan P., and Thomas F. Shannon, Dutch Poetry in Modern Times, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1977.