{{Short description|Dutch children's writer (born 1958)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}} {{Infobox writer | name = Bette Westera | image = Bette Westera on September 13, 2016 at International Literature Festival Berlin.jpg | caption = Bette Westera (2016) | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|6|20|df=y}} | birth_place = Doesburg, Netherlands | awards = {{plainlist| * {{Awards|award=Gouden Griffel|year=2015}} * {{Awards|award=Woutertje Pieterse Prijs|year=2015}} }} }} '''Bette Westera''' (born 20 June 1958) is a Dutch children's writer. She has won numerous awards for her work.

== Career ==

Westera made her debut as children's book author in 1999 with the book ''Wil je met me trouwen?''<ref name="dbnl_bio">{{cite web|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/coil001lexi01_01/lvdj01095.php|title=Bette Westera|first=Karen|last=Ghonem-Woets|publisher=Lexicon van de jeugdliteratuur (1982 - 2014) - Digital Library for Dutch Literature|accessdate=27 April 2019|archive-date=27 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427171723/https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/coil001lexi01_01/lvdj01095.php|language=Dutch|url-status=live}}</ref> Westera went on to win numerous awards for her work, including the Gouden Griffel and the Woutertje Pieterse Prijs in 2015 for her poetry collection ''Doodgewoon'' (with illustrations by Sylvia Weve).<ref name="woutertje_winner2015">{{cite web|url=https://woutertjepieterseprijs.nl/deelnemers/woutertje-pieterse-prijs-2015/|title=Woutertje Pieterse Prijs 2015|publisher=woutertjepieterseprijs.nl|accessdate=16 January 2019|archive-date=16 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116232107/https://woutertjepieterseprijs.nl/deelnemers/woutertje-pieterse-prijs-2015-voor-bette-westera-en-sylvia-weve/|language=Dutch}}</ref><ref name="nos_doodgewoon">{{cite web|url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2029695-woutertje-pieterse-prijs-voor-boek-over-de-dood.html|title=Woutertje Pieterse Prijs voor boek over de dood|publisher=NOS.nl|date=11 April 2015|accessdate=16 January 2019|archive-date=16 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116234712/https://nos.nl/artikel/2029695-woutertje-pieterse-prijs-voor-boek-over-de-dood.html|language=Dutch}}</ref><ref name="nu_gouden_griffel">{{cite web|url=https://www.nu.nl/cultuur-overig/4140108/gouden-griffel-bette-westera.html|title=Gouden Griffel voor Bette Westera|date=6 October 2015|publisher=NU.nl|accessdate=11 June 2019|archive-date=11 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611121320/https://www.nu.nl/cultuur-overig/4140108/gouden-griffel-bette-westera.html|language=Dutch|url-status=live}}</ref> The previous time a poetry collection won the Gouden Griffel award was twenty years prior in 1995 (Ted van Lieshout's ''Begin een torentje van niks'').<ref name="nu_gouden_griffel"/>

She also won several Zilveren Griffel awards as well as several Vlag en Wimpel awards over the years.<ref name="nu_zilveren_griffel_2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.nu.nl/cultuur-overig/5321867/tien-kinderboeken-bekroond-met-zilveren-griffel.html|title=Tien kinderboeken bekroond met Zilveren Griffel|date=20 June 2018|publisher=NU.nl|accessdate=11 June 2019|archive-date=11 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611121913/https://www.nu.nl/cultuur-overig/5321867/tien-kinderboeken-bekroond-met-zilveren-griffel.html|language=Dutch|url-status=live}}</ref>

Westera's books have been illustrated by many illustrators, including Annemarie van Haeringen, Barbara de Wolf, Harmen van Straaten, Yvonne Jagtenberg and Sylvia Weve.<ref name="dbnl_bio"/>

== Awards ==

* 2001: Vlag en Wimpel, ''Een opa om nooit te vergeten''<ref name="dbnl_bio"/> * 2003: Vlag en Wimpel, ''Alle hens aan dek''<ref name="dbnl_bio"/> * 2006: Vlag en Wimpel, ''Oma´s rommelkamer''<ref name="dbnl_bio"/> * 2011: Zilveren Griffel, ''Ik leer je liedjes van verlangen, en aan je apenstaartje hangen'' * 2013: Vlag en Wimpel, ''Aan de kant, ik ben je oma niet!'' (with Sylvia Weve) * 2013: Vlag en Wimpel, ''Dat zou ik nooit doen!'' (with Naomi Tieman and Sylvia Weve) * 2014: Zilveren Griffel, ''Held op sokken'' * 2015: Woutertje Pieterse Prijs, ''Doodgewoon'' (with Sylvia Weve)<ref name="woutertje_winner2015"/><ref name="nos_doodgewoon"/> * 2015: Gouden Griffel, ''Doodgewoon''<ref name="nu_gouden_griffel"/> * 2015: Vlag en Wimpel, ''Kietel nooit een krokodil'' * 2016: Vlag en Wimpel, ''In een slootje ben ik een bootje'' * 2017: Zilveren Griffel, ''Baby'tje in mama's buik'' * 2018: Zilveren Griffel, ''Was de aarde vroeger plat?'' (with Sylvia Weve)<ref name="nu_zilveren_griffel_2018"/> * 2018: Vlag en Wimpel, ''Dag poes!'' (with Koos Meinderts, Sjoerd Kuyper, Hans Hagen and Monique Hagen) * 2020: Woutertje Pieterse Prijs, ''Uit elkaar'' (with Sylvia Weve)<ref name="woutertje_winner_2020">{{cite web|url=https://woutertjepieterseprijs.nl/deelnemers/woutertje-pieterse-prijs-2020/|title=Woutertje Pieterse Prijs 2020|publisher=woutertjepieterseprijs.nl|accessdate=11 April 2020|language=Dutch}}</ref><ref name="woutertje_trouw_winner_2020">{{cite web|url=https://www.trouw.nl/cultuur-media/uit-elkaar-wint-de-woutertje-pieterse-prijs-voor-het-mooiste-kinderboek~bdab7927/|title=‘Uit elkaar’ wint de Woutertje Pieterse Prijs voor het mooiste kinderboek|publisher=Trouw|accessdate=11 April 2020|language=Dutch}}</ref> * 2020: Boekenleeuw, ''Uit elkaar'' * 2024: Mildred L. Batchelder Award honor, ''Later, When I’m Big'' (''Later als ik groot ben'') <ref>{{cite web |title=American Library Association announces 2024 Youth Media Award winners |url=https://www.ala.unikron.com/_files/ugd/48581a_bfae9b1a05ff4fe59f6fe7976304e537.pdf |website=American Library Association |access-date=22 January 2024}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == {{Commonscat|Bette Westera}} * [https://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=west180 Bette Westera] (in Dutch), Digital Library for Dutch Literature

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westera, Bette}} Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Dutch women writers Category:21st-century Dutch women writers Category:Woutertje Pieterse Prize winners Category:Gouden Griffel winners