The Cultural Prize of Drenthe 2026 goes to Erik Harteveld. Harteveld has put Drenthe on the cultural map as a writer, radio, theater and television maker, actor, musician and poet with a passion for the Drenthe language. The prize has been awarded biennially since 1955 to someone who has made a significant contribution to Drenthe culture with their oeuvre. The award ceremony will take place on Monday 13 April.
According to the Advisory Committee Cultural Prize of Drenthe, Erik Harteveld has built a unique and versatile oeuvre over the past decades, with which he makes a special contribution to the cultural field in Drenthe. His oeuvre is broad and varied. Harteveld does not shy away from experimentation and is not guided by the taste of the general public. He dares to present what is abrasive and deviates. His work is witty, original and intelligent, sometimes with a sharp edge.
Harteveld is an artist who uses the Low Saxon language with heart and soul in so many different ways. His sense of humor and the way he uses it for this language and Drenthe is exceptional and unique. Therefore, he certainly deserves the Cultural Prize of Drenthe, according to the committee.
Erik Harteveld (1955) grew up in Grolloo and Nijlande. He contributed to radio and television programs for Radio Noord and RTV Drenthe, wrote columns for many years such as 1000 jaor Drenthe and Vrouw Koetje, and published a broad literary oeuvre. In 1995 his poetry collection Hoss is dood appeared, followed by the collection of his columns Veur de Ewigheid… Vrouw Koetje vertelt in 2002. In the years after, he wrote among others the rural novella Zwiers mechanisatie (2009) and the epistolary novel Koude Oorlog aan de IJssel (2013). As a screenwriter, he wrote among others Groot Hunzeland, as an actor he played in many large and small performances at Iemandsland and Theater te Water.
In 2022 Harteveld published the novella Het verloren kind, a letter story about a young composer in Paris. He also previously published literary and poetic works such as Hier en nu (2007), De eeuwig zoemende vliegenstrip (2008) and the jazz-literature project Diezeg laand (2010). His latest book: Pooltochten dromen was published last year. Harteveld has performed all his life as a singer and guitarist with the Kopstubbers and the Erik Harteveld Bluesband.
Cultural Prize of Drenthe
The biennial Cultural Prize consists of a bronze medal and 10,000 euros. It has been the most important distinction of the province of Drenthe since 1955. In recent years, the oeuvre prize went to Marion van den Akker (2024), Siemen Dijkstra (2022), Daniël Lohues (2020), Harry Cock (2018), Cor Kalfsbeek (2016) and Gerard Stout (2014).
On 13 April, it will also be announced who among the three nominees is the winner of the Talent Prize 2026 of Art & Culture Drenthe.