Celebrated writer Stefan Hertmans has been named Ghent University Alumnus of the Year 2025. His impressive career as a poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, dramatist, columnist, and reviewer continues to inspire and captivate audiences. His extensive body of work is a testament to his exceptional literary talent.
Read the interview on Infinitum.
The university emancipated me.
Stefan Hertmans, Ghent University Alumnus of the Year
About Stefan Hertmans
Acclaimed author, essayist, and poet Stefan Hertmans has a deep connection with UGent – first as a student, later as a doctoral researcher and guest lecturer. Academic research remains a cornerstone of his work, a passion that took root during his time at the university. “My philosophical education has been essential to my thinking. The university taught me to see doubt as a form of truth.”
Hertmans studied Germanic Philology at Ghent University from 1970 to 1974. When asked about non-academic memories from his student days, he recalled working at the student restaurant De Brug for many years and playing jazz guitar with the university jazz combo.
In 2010, he obtained a doctorate in Arts Science. He later spent a year as a guest lecturer at Ghent University.
Hertmans made his name in Dutch literature with ‘Naar Merelbeke’ (1994) and ‘Steden’ (1998). His international breakthrough came with ‘Oorlog en Terpentijn’ (War and Turpentine) (2013), which was nominated for the Man Booker International Prize and the Premio Strega Europeo.
Renowned for his exceptional writing style and profound reflections on society, Hertmans has received widespread acclaim. One of the nominators for the Ghent University Alumnus of the Year award put it this way: “No Dutch-language author surpasses him in the versatility and quality of his oeuvre.”
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