author
Wies Moens
1898–1982
A leading voice in 20th-century Flemish literature, his early poetry was noted for its intense, idealistic energy. His life also moved through the storms of Belgian nationalism, making his work inseparable from the politics of his era.
1 Audiobook
Van vijf moderne dichters
by P. C. Boutens, Willem Kloos, Wies Moens, C. Th. (Carel Theodorus) Scharten, Margot Vos
About the author
Born in Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde in 1898, Wies Moens became known as a Flemish poet, literary historian, and essayist. He studied at the University of Ghent during the First World War, and his early writing became associated with the expressionist current in Flemish literature.
His poems were recognized for their passionate, humanitarian tone, and reference works on Flemish literature single out his early poetry as an important part of the literary climate after World War I. Alongside his literary work, he was deeply involved in the Flemish nationalist movement.
That political involvement remains a major part of his story. Moens helped found Verdinaso in 1931 and later broke with the movement after its change in direction. He died in Geleen, the Netherlands, in 1982, and is remembered today as a significant but controversial figure in Belgian literary and political history.