Ward Ruyslinck was born on June 17, 1929 in Berchem, Flanders, Belgium as Raymond Charles Marie de Belser. He was a writer and actor, known for Wierook en tranen (1977), De geboorte en dood van Dirk Vandersteen jr. (1968) and Oog in oog (1991). He was married to Monika Macken and Alice Burn. He died on October 3, 2014 in Meise, Flanders.
Ruyslinck's work combines social commitment with a pessimistic view of life, humor, and satire. Several of his works were adapted for theatre. De slakken, Golden Ophelia, and Wierook en tranen were made into movies.
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In 1975, he became a member of The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium, and he became its president in 1985.
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After the suicide of his wife in 1990, he moved to Meise to live with his mistress Monika Lo Cascio. Ward Ruyslinck and Monika Lo Cascio jointly wrote the autobiographical novel De speeltuin ("The Playground") in 1992.
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Ruyslinck's work combines social commitment with a pessimistic view of life, humor, and satire.
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His most widely read book Wierook en tranen (nl) ("Incense and Tears") was published in 1958.
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In 1961, with the novel Het dal van Hinnom, he broke with church and society.
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During the sixties and seventies he traveled a great deal to research magazine articles and visited Poland, the Soviet Union, Canada, and Argentina.
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After he finished high school in 1947, he attended the University of Ghent to study Germanic philology. He dropped out after a year, which he has claimed was a consequence of the deep impact on him of the death of his older brother in 1948. He wrote five poems on the occasion of his brother's death, which were distributed among family and friends.
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In 1957, he published the short story De ontaarde slapers (The depraved sleepers ), about one of his main themes - the unequal battle between individuals and their communities.
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In 1980, he was awarded the first Europalia prize for his entire oeuvre.