Maarten 't Hart


Maarten 't Hart is a Dutch writer. Trained as a biologist in zoology and ethology at the University of Leiden, he taught that subject before becoming a full-time writer in the 1980s, having made his debut as a novelist in 1971 under the name Martin Hart with Stenen voor een ransuil.
He is the author of many novels, including Het Woeden der Gehele Wereld and De kroongetuige. His books have been translated into a number of European languages, and he is especially popular in Germany. Three of his novels, , De aansprekers, and have appeared in English, as have a few of his short stories.
The themes of his novels, which often have an autobiographical component, include:
  • the hometown of his youth, Maassluis
  • the strict form of the Protestantism with which he was brought up, and his rebellion against it
  • the love of a man for a woman
  • the relationship between an elderly man and a young man
  • guilt.
His writings are full of detailed descriptions of nature and show his passionate love for classical music.
Hart is supporter of the Party for Animals, and, in 2004, agreed with the party to underline that by becoming a candidate in the European elections. However, for this he needed an official identity document, and he has no driving licence, and had neither a passport nor another identity document, and, for reasons of principle, did not want to get one for this purpose. He is also a prominent radio and television personality, and a regular contributor to daily newspapers.
He currently lives in Warmond, close to Leiden, with his wife. His chief pastimes are music – he plays the piano and the organ – and reading. He says he reads six books a week, in Dutch, English, German, and French. He knows very little about films and rarely watches one. He does not want to be involved in films based on his books. He was, however, "rat consultant" to Werner Herzog for the film Nosferatu the Vampyre. This turned out to be a disagreeable experience about which he wrote a story, "Ongewenste zeereis", that appeared in 2004 in Granta'' under the title "Rats".

Selected bibliography