Tom Lanoye

(1958-) Poet, novelist, performer and playwright. Born in Sint-Niklaas, Northern Belgium, he started his career as a performer in cafés and as the publisher of his own poems. He has since become one of the most well-known Flemish writers. In 2003, Lanoye became the first official poet of the city of Antwerp, a posting that was greeted with much public approval. His theatre work includes the voluminous play Ten oorlog! (To War!) , based on Shakespeare's History Plays, Mefisto for Ever and Mamma Medea, an adaptation of Euripides' classic Medea. The last named has been translated into Afrikaans by Antjie Krog and was produced in South Africa by Marthinus Basson; an endeavour that articulates Lanoye's fascination with the themes of language and multiculturalism. In October/November 2006 she and the Afrikaans performance poet Antjie Krog, undertook a combined stage tour of Flanders, the Netherlands and South Africa. It was a dynamic two-hander performance, focusing on language linkages, which received excellent reviews and was a continuation of earlier instances of collaboration between the two artists.