Joost de Vries

(1983) made his debut in 2010 with Clausewitz, nominated for the Selexyz Debuutprijs and the Anton Wachter Prijs. In this novel a young academic goes in search of cultwriter Ferdynand LeFebvre, who disappeared thirty years earlier: a quest for discarded poets, derailed feminists and paranoid academics. But the 'war on terror' also receives attention. It reminds strongly of the novels 2666 and The Wild Detectives by the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño, to whom De Vries thanked his motto. In these novels too there is a quest for a disappeared writer and both authors link literature, disappearance, war and political violence. De Vries is art editor for the weekly De Groene Amsterdammer. He reviews Dutch literature, wrote about Facebook and Tiger Woods and wrote profiles on Malcolm Gladwell, H.J.A. Hofland and Johannes van Dam. He writes for Dutch literary magazines such as Tirade and De Gids and is a columnist in nrc.next. Joost de Vries studied journalism and history in Utrecht.

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