Bob den Uyl

Bob den Uyl (27 March 1930, Rotterdam – 14 February, 1992 Rotterdam) was a Dutch writer of mostly short stories. His writing style is mostly ironic and observant. The most prominent themes 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 (by bicycle) 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 of the VPRO-Gids established the Bob den Uyl prize for travel stories. Several collected stories have been posthumously published. A biography will be published in 2007.