Biography
Van Kempen was born in Oirschot. After attending high school in Eindhoven, he studied Dutch at the University of Nijmegen; on June 5 2002 he got his Ph.D. at the University of Amsterdam with the five volumed Een geschiedenis van de Surinaamse literatuur (A History of Surinamese Literature), published in two volumes in 2003. In 1400 pages it tells the history of oral and written literatures of Suriname.
For some years Van Kempen was teaching Dutch in Nijmegen (1980-1982) and Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam (1983-1987). In Suriname he also worked as a teacher in literary criticism and creative writing at the Academie voor Hoger Kunst- en Cultuuronderwijs, as well as coordinator of the Literature Section of the Ministry of Education and Culture.
From 1991 through 1995 he was coordinating the Suriname-project of the University Library of Amsterdam (resulting in the Suriname-catalogue, containing some 8000 entries) and from 1994 thru 1998 as a scientific researcher at the University of Amsterdam. As a lecturer and visiting professor he taught at universities around the world. As an advisor he worked for festivals, publishing houses and research fundings.
From September 1 2006 Van Kempen is a professor by special nomination in Dutch West-Indian literature at the University of Amsterdam.
Read more about this topic: Michiel Van Kempen
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