Writer and sculptor Jan Wolkers, best known abroad for his 1969 novel Turks Fruit (Turkish Delight), has died at his home on the island of Texel at the age of 81.

Wolkers died in his sleep. ‘He was an old man, but he was not sick. His spirit was young. He died unexpectedly,’ said his biographer Onno Blom on behalf of the family.
Considered one of the ‘great four’ post WWII Dutch writers, Wolkers was one of the first to write openly and explicitly over sex.
Turks Fruit, filmed in 1973 and staring Rutger Hauer and Monique van de Ven, was nominated for an Oscar.
In 1980, Wolkers turned his hand to sculpture, designed the Auschwitz monument in Amsterdam’s Wertheim park.
He moved to Texel in 1981.
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