MINCO, MARGA

MINCO, MARGA (1920– ), Dutch author, born in Ginneken (near Breda), who lived in Amsterdam. Her first book, the short novel Het bittere kruid (1957; The Bitter Herb, 1960), describes the deportation of her family and her own survival in hiding during World War II. It was translated into many languages. The book, like the ones that were to follow, was praised for its sparing yet impressive style. Marga Minco was one of the first Dutch writers to deal with "survivor's guilt." Most of her books are partly autobiographical; they often relate to the persecution of Jews during World War II and the lack of understanding of the non-Jewish world after the war. After Het bittere kruid Minco wrote the collection of stories De andere kant ("The Other Side," 1959), the short novels Een leeg huis ("An Empty House," 1966), De val ("The Fall," 1983), De glazen brug ("The Glass Bridge," 1986), Nagelaten dagen ("Posthumous Days," 1997), the collection of short stories Storing ("Breakdown," 2004), and several short stories, collected in Verzamelde verhalen 1951–1981 ("Collected Stories, 1951–1981," 1982). Het bittere kruid and Een leeg huis were adapted for the stage several times; Het bittere kruid was filmed, not very successfully, by Kees van Oostrum in 1985. Marga Minco also wrote children's stories, notably Kijk 'ns in een la ("Look into a Drawer," 1963) and De verdwenen bladzij en andere kinderverhalen ("The Missing Page and Other Children's Stories," 1994). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Daphne Meijer, Joodse tradities in de literatuur (1998); Johan P. Snapper, De wegen van Marga Minco (1999). (Hilde Pach)