Luuk Vulkers receives the prize from jury chairman Aleid Truijens. On the right Joost Quant, chairman of the Van Bijlevelt Foundation. Image Jan Jong
The prize for talented essayists (7,500 euros), an initiative of the Van Bijlevelt Foundation, was awarded in the De Vest theater in Alkmaar on Saturday, November 18. That is the birthday of Joost Zwagerman, the writer who died in 2015 at the age of 52.
The jury, consisting of Barber van de Pol, Fien Veldman, Merlijn Olnon and chairman Aleid Truijens, was impressed by the scope of the essay from Vulkers. From the jury report: ‘There appears to be a link between cleanliness and class, and between the acceptance of homosexuality and the acceptance of blemishes. Ultimately, it is about the urgent desire to mean something to a fellow human being.’ The jury chose the winner from 161 entries, of which the five best can be read in The Dutch Book Guide. The other nominees were Lotte Krakers, Tuly Salumu, Linde van Wingerden and Marloes Zwagerman.
Broader perspective
Vulkers writes that he is afraid of dirty plasters in swimming pools, afraid of getting sick, even more afraid of making people sick. He describes one of his ‘persistent fantasies’ as follows: ‘Lie down in a bath filled with corrosive chlorine, and then lie there until I am completely dissolved. Finally clean.’
In Everything Leaks, Vulkers thoroughly analyzes his fear. He partly minimizes this when, for example, he discusses the connection between fear of contamination and his homosexuality. “If ‘gay’ was dirty, then I was dirty – and so I wanted nothing more than to be ‘clean’.” But he also considers the phenomena of ‘fear of contamination’ and ‘hygiene’ from a broader perspective and refers to both Charles Dickens and Roy Donders.
Vulkers investigated the social interpretation of fear of contamination for his essay, he says by telephone. ‘Being clean is a way to conform to the norm, to belong to a group. But some people can afford not to comply.’
He himself grew up with the idea that ‘too’ neat and ‘too’ clean would be petty bourgeois, he writes. ‘You did as little cleaning as possible. It wasn’t necessarily raunchy for us, but a somewhat bohemian household should still have its edges. We lived in an old Amsterdam apartment ‘where people clearly lived.’
Pride in dirt
Vulkers now resides in New York. He is taking the Creative Writing course at The New School, where Hannah Arendt, among others, taught. For his graduation, Vulkers is writing an essay collection about American cities. His writing examples include Margo Jefferson, Joan Didion, Leslie Jamison, and Nuar Alsadir.
He lives in a city that prides itself on its filth. From his essay: ”If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere’ is a well-known saying with which New Yorkers like to pat themselves on the back. The implicit assumption is that you only deserve the fruits of the Big Apple if you can get over the cockroaches and rats.”
He doesn’t always succeed. “You can try to explain a phenomenon like fear of contamination ad infinitum,” he says. ‘Maybe the key to understanding for me lies in homosexuality, maybe not. But at the end of the day, explanations don’t solve everything. You learn the most by living.’
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2023-11-19 15:57:00
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