Gerard Nijenhuis died on Monday in his hometown of Bronneger. The acclaimed writer and poet was seen as the nestor of Drenthe literature.
Since the 1970s, Nijenhuis has published with various publishers in both Dutch and Drenthe and has received several awards. Village communities and homosexuality play an important role in his work. He was also a driving force behind the literary life in Drenthe.
In the 1950s, Nijenhuis initiated the establishment of the Drentse Schrieverskring and was co-initiator of the magazine Oeze Volk . In 1987 he was awarded the Drenthe Cultural Prize for his literary work. In 2018 he was appointed Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Mayor’s son from Gieten
Nijenhuis grew up as the mayor’s son in Gieten. The temporary disappearance of his father during the Second World War as well as his position as an outsider in a village are described several times in both his novels and poems.
After studying theology in Groningen, Nijenhuis worked as a preacher and later as a social worker in North Holland. He married a woman with whom he started a family, but after a long struggle he finally chose man’s love and returned to Drenthe.
Lodging in Bronneger
Since the 1990s he lived together with Jan Gilhuis, with whom he ran a lodging house in Bronneger, between writing. This summer they made their garden available for the Into Nature art event.
When a biography about his life was published in 2018, written by Lukas Koops The fact that I exist is because of language , Nijenhuis was no longer the sharpest of minds. Yet he continued to come out whenever possible. For example, he recently contributed three poems to a soon-to-be-published anthology of work by the Drentse Schrieverskring.
Gerard Nijenhuis is 91 years old. He will be said goodbye to in Gasselte on Saturday.