Dros, Imme (Netherlands)

Imme Dros was born on 26 September 1936 on the island of Texel. She attended the Municipal Lyceum in Den Helder and graduated with a gymnasium diploma from the 'alpha' track, going on to earn a Master's degree in Dutch language and literature at Amsterdam University, with literature as her main subject and theatre studies and English literature as subsidiary subjects.

After completing her studies she began publishing children's stories. Her first children's book, Het paard Rudolf [Rudolf the Horse], appeared in 1971. Since then she has published more than thirty books for children and young people. She also produced a verse version of Homer's Odyssey and translated the Middle Dutch classicVisioenen van Hadewijch [The Visions of Hadewijch].

Many of her books were illustrated by her husband, Harrie Geelen. Books by Imme Dros have been translated into German, French, English, Japanese, Brazilian, Swedish and Danish. In 1991 she was asked by the young people's theatre group Teneeter to adapt her book Annetje Lie in het holst van de nacht [Annetje Lie in the Dead of Night for the stage. This play, De maan en de muizenkoning [The Moon and the Mouse King] was first performed in 1991. Since then she has written three more plays for families and young people and a libretto for a children's opera, Repelsteel [Rumpelstiltskin]. Recurring themes in her work are the twilight region between fantasy and reality, and the struggle to discover one's own identity.