26 January 2007

AMSTERDAM — The Literature Museum (Letterkundig Museum) has presented their own “canon”, a list of the most important writers. The museum titled the list “Pantheon”. The Top 100 of the greatest writers included Anna Bijns, Erasmus, Hooft, Vondel and Multatuli, as well as Hans Faverey and Frans Kellendonk.

The list was put together by a board of ten members. According to the Museum´s Director Anton Korteweg, they “had 5 hours of arguments”, De Volkskrant reports.

A permanent exposition of the Pantheon will open in the end of 2008, providing details on all the 100 founders of the Dutch literature (actually, there are 101 of them, if you count the nameless medieval poet at number “0”).

The board did not include any living authors in their Pantheon. Meanwhile, some writers who did make it into the Top 100 are not even generally known as writers. Such is, for instance, Vincent van Gogh, allowed to join the list because he has reached a broad public with his letters. Historian Johan Huizinga, Anne Frank, Godfried Bomans were also listed.

Surprisingly enough, the Pantheon does not include Annie M.G. Schmidt. “She will be featured in the Children’s Books Museum  (Kinderboekenmuseum)”, director Korteweg said, neglecting the writer’s texts for adults, De Volkskrant writes.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007]

Subject: Dutch news