Van Nijlen, Jan 1884–1965

PERSONAL: Born November 10, 1884, in Antwerp, Belgium; died August 14, 1965, in Vorst, Belgium.

CAREER: Poet. Worked in banking; Ministry of Justice, Brussels, Belgium, staff member, beginning 1919.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

Het aangezicht der aarde: Verzen, Hijjan, Stenfert Kroese & Van der Zande (Arnhem, Netherlands), 1923.

De lokstem, A.A.M. Stols (Maastricht, Netherlands), 1925.

De vogel Phoenix, 1928.

Geheimschrift, 1934.

Het oude kind, 1938.

Gedichten, 1904–1938, A.A.M. Stols (Maastricht, Netherlands), 1938.

De dauwtrapper, A.A.M. Stols (the Hague, Netherlands), 1947.

Verzamelde gedichten, 1904–1948, A.A.M. Stols (The Hague, Netherlands), 1948.

Te laat voor deze wereld, Van Oorschot (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1957.

Verzamelde gedichten, 1903–1964, van Oorschot (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1964.

Bedeesd maar onbedaard, verzameld en ingeleid, edited by C. Bittremieux, Heideland (Hasselt, Belgium), 1977.

OTHER

Uren met Montaigne (essays), 1915.

Francis Jammes (essays), Sijthoff (Leiden, Netherlands), 1918.

Charles Péguy (essays), Sijthoff (Leiden, Netherlands), 1919.

Herinneringen aan E. du Perron, van Oorschot (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1955.

Druilende burgerij: Jeugdherinneringen van een eenzelvig man, van Oorschot (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1982.

SIDELIGHTS: Flemish writer Jan van Nijlen was known as a romantic poet whose verses often dealt with the emotions of loneliness and unfulfilled longing. In addition to his poems, many of which are collected in Verzamelde gedichten, 1903–1964, van Nijlen published the scholarly works Uren met Montaigne, Francis Jammes, and Charles Péguy.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Dietsche Warande en Belfort, 1966, Eugene van Itterbeek, "Péguy in Vlaanderen: Van Jan van Nijlen tot Richard Minne," pp. 64-69; 1967, P.G. Buckinx, "Jeugdherinneringen van Jan van Nijlen," pp. 309-311.

Nieuwe Taalgids, September, 1982, Anne Marie Musschoot, "'In de enge cel van 't middelmatig lot': Op zoek naar de poetica van Jan van Nijlen," pp. 428-443.

Tirade, September-December, 1985, Pierre H. Dubois, "De literaire familie van Jan van Nijlen," pp. 653-671.