Lieke Marsman died on Wednesday at the age of 35, reports Uitgeverij Pluim. The writer, poet and philosopher suffered from a rare form of cancer.
More than seven years ago, Lieke Marsman was diagnosed with cartilage cancer, which turned out to have spread.
Marsman was Poet Laureate from 2021 to 2023. ‘With humor and sharpness, she always managed to get to the heart of complex issues,’ writes her publisher. On May 9, 2026, she received the Frans Banninck Cocq Medal from Mayor Femke Halsema for her cultural merits and social involvement.
After her cancer diagnosis, she investigated in 2018 The next scan takes five minutes in poems and essays how a sick body relates to a sick world. In my basket (2021) addresses the value of life and the place of death.
Published in 2025 They can save me on another planet terminally ill, she explores her relationship with God, science and extraterrestrial life.
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Marsman made his debut in 2010 with the poetry collection What I like to tell myself and immediately won several prizes. Her first novel The opposite of a human with the theme of climate change, was published in 2017.