Cees Nooteboom was born in The Hague in 1933. He is a poet and the author of several novels and travel books. He has journeyed through much of the world - he made his first voyage as a sailor to earn his passage from his native Holland to South America, and he has been travelling ever since. His first taste of international success was the Pegasus Prize for Rituals. The award in 1993 of the European Literature Prize, for The Following Story , confirmed his reputation in contemporary European world literature. His other works, including In the Dutch Mountains and A Song of Truth and Semblance