Christine Namdar asked if she can use my picture of Willem Witgat in a lecture she gave to a commission of the EU parlement in Brussels.
Previously, she also used it in a speech for the Finnish Ministry of Internal Affairs.
I don’t think Willem Witgat ever imagined he would travel so far across the world!
The book can be bought at Takealot following the link below:
or at: Fontein Uitgewery: 1249 Starkey Ave, Waverley, Pretoria, 0186 Phone: 082 938 0775 marlize@fonteinuitgewery.co.za
As a kid, I used to write and draw books and dream of becoming a writer. Here is a page from a book I tried to write when I was in standard 1. At that time I loved to read Dutch books and thought that if one really wanted to write a good book it should be in Dutch. Funny to see how I tried to imitate my teacher’s handwriting with her characteristic “g’s”.
Over the years, this dream has been somewhat forgotten, until it came to me again after the passing of my illustrator brother, Alex van Houwelingen. I was asked to illustrate some books in his place. I really enjoyed the illustrations, in fact, it ignited again an old dream to both write and illustrate a children’s book. Yet to find a publisher, is a different story.
When I came across the competition “Ken jou Storie” https://www.kenjoustorie.co.za/ , I realised that perhaps this might be my chance, because in addition to the prize money, the goal is that the winner’s book will also be published. After writing and rewriting my story multiple times, testing it on my little cousins and reading it aloud to my family (you can trust teenagers for giving honest comments), I had a manuscript.
Well, last Friday my childhood dream became true. What an unexpected surprise! My story “Willem die Witgatboom” won the competition for the 4 – 6 year category. I cannot wait to start illustrating …
Jenny Boon 