Keuls, Yvonne 1931-

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Keuls, Yvonne 1931-

PERSONAL:

Born December 17, 1931, in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia); daughter of Samuel (a local government officer) and Johanna Bamberg; married Robert Keuls (a merchant marine officer), 1954; children: Claudette, Marysa, Gerdien. Ethnicity: "Netherlands." Education: Attended teachers' training college in The Hague, Netherlands, graduating in 1952.

ADDRESSES:

Home—The Hague, Netherlands; fax: 31-70-310-7385. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Cofounder and staff member of a boarding home for homeless children, 1972. Public speaker.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Mr. Van der Vries Prize, Netherlands Association of Writers and Translators, 1967; critics' prize, Association of Dutch Theater Critics, 1978; Silver Youth Passport, Foundation of Cultural Youth Passports, 1979, for the play Jan Rap en z'n Maat; Floortje Bloem Prijs, Association of Mental Health Institutions, 1992, for Meneer and Mevrouw zijn gek; prize for book of the year from the newspaper Trouw, 1999, for Mevrouw mijn moeder.

WRITINGS:

Groetjes van huis tot huis, Leopold (The Hague, Netherlands), 1975.

Van huis uit, Leopold (The Hague, Netherlands), 1976.

Jan Rap en z'n maat (nonfiction; title means "Anybody and His Friend"), Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1977.

De moeder van David S. (nonfiction), Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1980, translation published as The Mother of David S., St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1985.

Keulsiefjes, Leopold (The Hague, Netherlands), 1980.

Kleine muizen; en Regenwormen: twee eenakters (title means "Little Mice and Rainsnakes: Two Short Plays"), Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1981.

Het verrotte leven van Floortje Bloem (nonfiction; title means "The Rotten Life of Floortje Bloem"), Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1982.

Waar is mijn toddeltje, Leopold (The Hague, Netherlands), 1983.

De hangmat van Miepie Papoen, Leopold (The Hague, Netherlands), 1984.

Annie Berber en het verdriet van een tedere crimineel, Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1985.

(With Tony van Verre) De arrogantie van de macht (biography), Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1986.

De tocht van het kind (autobiographical novel; title means "A Child's Journey"), Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1990.

Indische tantes (interviews), Novella (Amersfoort, Netherlands), 1991.

Meneer en mevrouw zijn gek (nonfiction; title means "Meneer and Mevrouw zijn gek"), Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1992.

Die kat van dat mens, Novella (Amersfoort, Netherlands), 1993.

Meneer Fris en andere mannen, Novella (Amersfoort, Netherlands), 1993.

Slepend huwelijks geluk, Novella (Amersfoort, Netherlands), 1994.

Lowietjes smartegeld, of, Het gebit van mijn moeder (primary title means "Louis's Compensation"), Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1995.

Voorzichtig, voorzichtig!, Novella (Amersfoort, Netherlands), 1995.

Mevrouw mijn moeder (biography; title means "Madam, My Mother"), Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 1999.

Familiegedoe, Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 2004.

Op reis met Yvonne Keuls, photographs by Robert Collegge, Ambo (Baarn, Netherlands), 2005.

Also writer for Dutch television, including scripts for The Copper Garden and Dirge to Agnes.

Keuls's books have been published widely throughout Eastern and Western Europe, Scandinavian countries, and Asia.

ADAPTATIONS:

The Mother of David S. was adapted for television.

SIDELIGHTS:

Best known to readers in English speaking countries for The Mother of David S., a book describing the world of drug addiction, Yvonne Keuls has also written several one-act and full-length plays. The Mother of David S., originally published as De moeder van David S., was adapted for television and as a full-length play.

Based on Keuls's work with drug addicts, The Mother of David S. presents the story of a Dutch family torn apart by the drug abuse of their teenage son, David. Lena, his mother, becomes so obsessed with helping David battle his additions that she neglects her other children. Finally, Lena travels to the United States and joins a self-help group for parents with drug-addicted kids. This experience gives her the insight and courage to force David to take responsibility for his own life. The book, which Psychology Today reviewer Ruth J. Moss deemed "a searing account of the dependency, manipulation and confusion that … drug addiction breeds" and a "stirring portrait of one family ripped apart by drugs," has been translated into English, Spanish, Czech, and Ukrainian.

In addition to her plays, Keuls has also written biographies. Indische tantes is a collection of interviews with women immigrants in the Netherlands.