Simke Kloosterman

Born in Twijzel in Friesland in 1876, Simke Kloosterman became an important early 20th-century Frisian writer. Reliable biographical sources describe her as a novelist and poet, and note that she was the daughter of the poet Jan Ritskes Kloosterman.

Her work ranged across poetry, stories, novels, and writing for younger readers. She is especially remembered for De Hoara's fan Hastings and for her place in Frisian literary history as one of the first women to write novels and poetry in Frisian.

Kloosterman died in Leeuwarden in 1938. Her reputation lasted well beyond her lifetime, and later biographies and literary institutions in Friesland have continued to revisit her life and work.