Celebrating Jacqueline Harpman

Harpman was born on this day in 1929 in Etterbeek, Brussels, Belgium.

She spent some of her childhood in Casablanca, Morocco before her family returned to Belgium in 1945. Harpman studied French Literature during school and dreamt of becoming a doctor. However, she was forced to abandon medical school after contracting tuberculosis.

Harpman decided to pursue a career as an author around 1954. After four years of writing, she released her debut novel L'Amour et Acacia (Love and the Acacia). In 1959, her second novel Brève Arcadie won the Prix Rossel — a prestigious Belgian literary award.

Whether it was through writing about characters in captivity or a surreal body swap scenario, Harpman used her work to explore human nature. She later became a psychoanalyst, and her interest in the unconscious mind is reflected throughout her literary career. In 1966, she took a twenty-year hiatus to focus on psychology. She wrote eight books in the 90s including her 1996 novel Orlanda, which won the Prix Médicis, which France awards each year to an underrated author.

She continued writing late into her life and found a new generation of fans when her last book Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes (I who have never known men) went viral online. In 2019, the city of Brussels named a street after her to acknowledge her contributions to Belgian culture. Harpman leaves behind a legacy that inspires current and future authors to explore the depths of humanity through their writing.

Happy birthday, Jacqueline Harpman!