N. P. van Wyk Louw

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Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw
Born(1906-06-11)11 June 1906
W.E.G. Louw

Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw (11 June 1906 in

W.E.G. Louw
.

One of the Dertigers, or "Writers of the Thirties," N.P. van Wyk Louw produced among his most famous works his debut 1935 volume of poems, Alleenspraak ("Monologue"), the 1937 poetry collection Die halwe kring ("The Semicircle"), the verse epic Raka, and the 1956 tragedy Germanicus.[1]

N.P. van Wyk Louw is quoted on the

Western Cape Province
; in his quote, he views Afrikaans as a bridge that connects Europe with Africa.

The South African composer Cromwell Everson composed a song cycle, "Vier Liefdesliedjies" ("Four little love songs") that used three of Louw's poems: "Nagliedje", "Net altyd jy" and "Dennebosse" (respectively, "Little night song", "Only always you" and "Pine forest").

A collection of the correspondence between N.P. van Wyk and his brother

W.E.G. Louw
was published by Hemel & See Boeke in 2011 under the title "Briewe van W.E.G. en N.P. van Wyk Louw 1941-1970".

Life

The second of four brothers, N.P. van Wyk Louw moved to

University of Witwatersrand
as head of the Dutch/Afrikaans department.

Criticism

D.J. Opperman
(Senior Verseboek, Nationale Pers 1962), one of the notable Afrikaner poets of the first half of the twentieth century, was in no doubt that van Wyk Louw was the greatest Afrikaner poet of the period.

References

  1. ^ Lindenberg, E., et al. "Inleiding tot die Afrikaanse Letterkunde". Pretoria and Cape Town: Fifth edition, 1980.

External links