Gerda Dendooven

Gerda Dendooven (born 10 May 1962) is a Belgian illustrator. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Gouden Uil, the Woutertje Pieterse Prijs and the Boekenpauw on several occasions.
Early life.
Dendooven was born in 1962 in Marke, Belgium. She studied "Vrije Grafiek" at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent.
Career.
Children's literature.
In 1987, she illustrated her first children's book "Geen gezoen, vlug opendoen" by Ed Franck. Dendooven went on to illustrate many books by many different authors, including Herman Brusselmans, Toon Tellegen and Bart Moeyaert. Other authors include Elvis Peeters, Michael De Cock and Wally De Doncker.
In 1996, she was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Dendooven also won several awards for books that she wrote and illustrated herself, such as "IJsjes" (for which she won a Boekenpauw in 1990), "Soepkinders" (for which she won a Boekenpluim in 2006) and "Hoe het varken aan zijn krulstaart kwam" (for which she won both a Zilveren Griffel and Boekenpluim in 2010).
She won the Vlag en Wimpel award in 1998 for illustrating the book "Nietes welles" and in 2015 for writing the book "De wondertuin".
In 2017, she won the Woutertje Pieterse Prijs for her book "Stella, ster van de zee". She was also nominated for this award in 2015 and 2016.
Theatre.
Dendooven has also written various texts for stage plays. In 2001, she participated in the play "Bremen is niet ver" in collaboration with Geert Hautekiet, Bart Moeyaert and Ianka Fleerackers.
Personal life.
Dendooven is in a relationship with typographist and designer Gert Dooreman and they have two daughters.