Marieke

I was born in Amsterdam, three floors above the Albert Cuyp market, in 1967. Later my parents moved to a flat in Zaandam and eventually to a house in Bakkum aan Zee. That's where I grew up. I had a younger brother, loving parents and a happy childhood. After high school I went to study Dutch in Amsterdam. I was already writing articles for the newspaper at that time and I continued to do so, after I graduated. For a while I also worked for German radio and television. I wrote about children's theater for a German newspaper. I also auditioned for drama school but was rejected. When I had children of my own I started telling fairy tales in their schools. I liked that even more than my job. I didn't read, I did it from memory, and I made up all sorts of things. I told fairy tales for years, until my youngest child was in eighth grade, and during that time I started writing children's stories myself. My first book was The girls against the boys, in the Lotte & Roos series. It appeared at Querido. Since then I have published five books. Umbrador, the latest book, is a fairytale, and a dark story. A bit like the way I used to tell them at school. The other books are cheerful and lighter in tone. I think they all together reflect exactly who I am. If you want to know even more about me, you can read the Questions and Answers. This is also useful if you want to give a presentation on one of my books. In the Extra's section you will find coloring pages, and interviews between me and the book's characters.