Karel van de Woestijne (1878-1929) was a Flemish symbolist and the leading poet of the Van-Nu-en-Straks (From Now On) group. His baroque, sensual poetry, cast in the form of a symbolic autobiography, gradually became more hermetic and sober, treating the constant struggle between the intellect and the physical world. His prose includes the regional novella “De Boer Die Sterft” (A Farmer Dies, 1918), which brilliantly transcends its genre. Van de Woestijne also published numerous critical essays.