Background
Herman Hendrik ter Balkt was born on September 17, 1938, in Usselo, Enschede, Netherlands. Herman Hendrik ter Balkt was the son of an accountant. Herman spent an important part of his childhood on his grandparents' farm.
In 1958 Herman Hendrik ter Balkt studied at the Kweekschool in Almelo.
Hofstedeweg 185, 7535 CV Enschede, Netherlands
In 1956 Herman Hendrik ter Balkt left Gemeentelijk Lyceum Enschede prematurely without a final diploma.
Herman Hendrik ter Balkt was born on September 17, 1938, in Usselo, Enschede, Netherlands. Herman Hendrik ter Balkt was the son of an accountant. Herman spent an important part of his childhood on his grandparents' farm.
In 1956 Herman Hendrik ter Balkt left his secondary school in Enschede prematurely without a final diploma. In 1958 he studied at the Kweekschool in Almelo. In 1960 Herman Hendrik ter Balkt got HBS-A Diploma through state exam.
In 1956 Herman Hendrik ter Balkt was an apprentice journalist at newspaper "Tubantia". In 1960 he was employed as a teacher in Zandpol near Schoonebeek, Drenthe. Then Herman Hendrik ter Balkt moved to Nijmegen. There he worked as a teacher. After that, Herman Hendrik ter Balkt had a journalistic debut in Bijster under the pseudonym Habakuk II de Balker. In 1973 he debuted as a prose writer with a novel "Zwijg'' under the pseudonym Foel Aos. Since 1979 Herman Hendrik ter Balkt published under his own name. Then in 1983 he left the teacher profession to devote yourself to writing. In 1987 Herman Hendrik ter Balkt started with poetry reviews for Het Parool. In 2000 he published collected poems.
"Go home, Poetry, and take me with you," Herman Hendrik ter Balkt writes in his collection Vuur (Fire). He seems to be convinced that poetry is not where it ought to be. In his poems, he urges all sorts of vehicles to make a good speed, and lets fly at dumb-clucks and other highwaymen who send poetry racing off in the wrong direction. Even if those people lived centuries ago, Herman Hendrik ter Balkt still calls them to order. "I've always had song feedback around/about where your abode is: behind the mountains".
"I sing about it," he once wrote. He was one of the few Dutch poets to publish protest verses: against the pollution of the sea and against nuclear power stations. That did show that, despite his nostalgia for what was lost, he stood with both feet in modern times. "A big drum of anecdotes is the ground" and the poet rooted and compares himself with ... a pig. When asked if he would like to become the Dutch Poet, Herman Hendrik ter Balkt answered in an interview: "I have a mother country, not a country."
Herman Hendrik ter Balkt was known for its obstinacy. He was a 'peasant poet', a poet of earthy, grim-humorous poems. Herman Hendrik ter Balkt knew that he led a reclusive and sober life. Herman Hendrik ter Balkt used quirky words such as "sky whip" and "potato flour foam" and larved his poems with exclamations: ("O") and exclamation marks.
The poet K. Michel: "the only poet who has successfully managed to write on through Lucebert. He steers clear of all precepts and ignores all prohibition signs. It is amazing how in his rough poetry subtlety lies concealed. With unknown power, he is forging a masterly oeuvre."
Physical Characteristics: Characteristic of Herman Hendrik ter Balkt's appearance was his sonorous voice with which he produced his poems as brewing currents and his hairstyle, which seemed to have been laid over his skull like a toupee. The hairs forward, always half in front of his eyes, as if he were looking for shelter behind them.
Herman Hendrik ter Balkt was married to Willemien.