# Judith Mok > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Judith_Mok > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Judith_Mok.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Mok > Source revision: 1344317094 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Dutch soprano, author and poet}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} '''Judith Mok''' (1954 in [Bergen, North Holland](/source/Bergen%2C_North_Holland) – 26 November 2024 in Dublin, Ireland) was a Dutch [soprano](/source/soprano), author and poet.{{cite web | url = https://www.rte.ie/culture/2024/1202/1484313-judith-mok-remembered-a-true-believer-in-the-power-of-art/ | title = Judith Mok remembered: 'A true believer in the power of art' | last = Ní Churreáin | first = Annemarie | date = 2 December 2024 | website = RTÉ | access-date = 5 October 2025 }} She moved to Ireland in her 40s and released novels and other works in English.{{cite web | url = https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/obituary-judith-mok-celebrated-soprano-writer-and-vocal-coach-who-worked-with-the-likes-of-grace-jones-and-glen-hansard/a1136681216.html | title = Obituary: Judith Mok, celebrated soprano, writer and vocal coach who worked with the likes of Grace Jones and Glen Hansard | last = Siggins | first = Lorna | date = 22 December 2024 | website = Irish Independent | access-date = 5 October 2025 }} Her last book is loosely based on family facts, but with a great deal of fiction. == Early life and education == Judith Mok was born in 1954{{Cite web |title=The state of dark / Judith Mok. |url=https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/bib287869 |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum}} in [Bergen, North Holland](/source/Bergen%2C_North_Holland), the daughter of Moses (later Maurits) Mok and Riemke Timmermans, who was not Jewish. who met after [World War II](/source/World_War_II).{{Cite web |last=McGuiggan |first=James Camien |date=2023-01-04 |title=So That They are Not Lost |url=https://journalofmusic.com/opinion/so-they-are-not-lost |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=[The Journal of Music](/source/The_Journal_of_Music) |language=en |archive-date=18 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918035803/https://journalofmusic.com/opinion/so-they-are-not-lost |url-status=live }} Her father was a writer, poet, and translator, and her mother was a housewife and a translator. Mok has an older half-sister who is Dutch and was a pre-adolescent when her grandparents were arrested during World War II.{{Cite journal |last=Ríordáin |first=Clíona Ní |date=2023-05-25 |title=Interview with Judith Mok |url=http://journals.openedition.org/etudesirlandaises/14941 |journal=Études Irlandaises |volume=48-1 |issue=48–1 |pages=103–109 |doi=10.4000/etudesirlandaises.14941 |issn=0183-973X}} As a young child, Mok moved back and forth between Bergen and Southern France. At age 14, she entered the [Royal Conservatory of The Hague](/source/Royal_Conservatory_of_The_Hague), where she was accepted into both the dance and music programs. She eventually studied under [Elisabeth Schwarzkopf](/source/Elisabeth_Schwarzkopf), a German-born opera soprano who had supported the Nazis and sang at [Auschwitz concentration camp](/source/Auschwitz_concentration_camp) . At age 19, Mok published her first short story collection,{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Jenny |date=2023-09-25 |title=Dutch soprano and vocal coach to the stars Judith Mok recounts her family's Holocaust losses |url=https://www.irishnews.com/arts/music/2023/09/25/news/dutch_soprano_and_vocal_coach_to_the_stars_judith_mok_recounts_her_families_holocost_loses-3631548/ |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=[The Irish News](/source/The_Irish_News) |language=en}} then graduated the following year.{{Cite web |last=Smither |first=Tanis |date=11 May 2021 |title=Interview: Renowned vocal coach Judith Mok discusses Ireland's ever-growing pool of talent |url=https://www.hotpress.com/opinion/interview-renowned-vocal-coach-judith-mok-discusses-irelands-ever-growing-pool-of-talent-22851758 |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=[Hot Press](/source/Hot_Press) |archive-date=18 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918035803/https://www.hotpress.com/opinion/interview-renowned-vocal-coach-judith-mok-discusses-irelands-ever-growing-pool-of-talent-22851758 |url-status=live }} == Career == Mok's career included singing soprano with the opera, as well as writing. She published her first poetry collection at age 19 and published two additional collections.{{Cite book |title=Ireland in, and Europe: cross-currents and exchanges |date=2012 |publisher=Wiss. Verl. Trier |isbn=978-3-86821-421-5 |editor-last=Huber |editor-first=Werner |series=Irish studies in Europe |location=Trier |editor-last2=Mayer |editor-first2=Sandra |editor-last3=Novak |editor-first3=Julia}} She also published three novels, as well as a memoir, ''The State of Dark'', in which she discussed her family's history related to the Holocaust, including the fact that 163 of her family members were killed.{{Cite web |last=Bolger |first=Dermot |date=2022-10-15 |title=The State of Dark: Powerful memoir gives voice to a family the Nazis tried to silence |url=https://www.businesspost.ie/life-arts/the-state-of-dark-powerful-memoir-gives-voice-to-a-family-the-nazis-tried-to-silence/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=[Business Post](/source/Business_Post) |language=en-IE}}{{Cite news |last=Dhuibhne |first=Éilís Ní |date=2022-11-12 |title=The State of Dark by Judith Mok: a memoir beyond the ordinary |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2022/11/12/the-state-of-dark-by-judith-mok-a-memoir-beyond-the-ordinary/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-10-01 |newspaper=[The Irish Times](/source/The_Irish_Times) |language=en |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203052839/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2022/11/12/the-state-of-dark-by-judith-mok-a-memoir-beyond-the-ordinary/ |url-status=live }} Some of her books were written in English and others in Dutch. Mok began singing professionally when she was 21 years old.{{Cite web |last=Angulo |first=Sergio |date=2012-09-20 |title=Judith Mok: Spanish is Great for Poetry |url=https://blogs.cervantes.es/dublin/interview-with-judith-mok/ |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=The Instituto Cervantes |language=}} She also provided voice coaching to singers. == Personal life == Mok was married to a Frenchman for six months, ending shortly after Mok met poet and critic Michael O'Loughlin in [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona). Mok became pregnant with O'Loughlin's daughter, Saar; the couple married in 1988,{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Andrea |date=2011-09-18 |title=The never-ending love story |url=https://www.independent.ie/life/the-never-ending-love-story/26772801.html |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=[Irish Independent](/source/Irish_Independent) |language=en |archive-date=18 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918035803/https://www.independent.ie/life/the-never-ending-love-story/26772801.html |url-status=live }} then moved to Ireland in 2002. She spoke six languages. == Publications == === Anthology contributions === * {{Cite book |title=Scéalta: Short Stories by Irish Women |date=2012 |publisher=Telegram Books |isbn=978-1-846-59159-4 |editor-last=O'Connor |editor-first=Rebecca |chapter=Pirates}}{{Cite book |last=Vaupel |first=Angela |title=Ireland in, and Europe: cross-currents and exchanges |date=2012 |publisher=Wiss. Verl. Trier |isbn=978-3-86821-421-5 |editor-last=Huber |editor-first=Werner |series=Irish studies in Europe |location=Trier |pages=161–172 |chapter=Exile, Migration, and 'The Other' in Contemporary Irish Writing |editor-last2=Mayer |editor-first2=Sandra |editor-last3=Novak |editor-first3=Julia}} === Poetry === * {{Cite book |title=Sterkwater |date=1985 |publisher=de Prom |isbn=978-9-068-01037-4 |location=Holland |language=nl}} * {{Cite book |title=Materiaal |date=1991 |publisher=de Prom |isbn=978-9-068-01284-2 |location=Holland |language=nl}} * {{Cite book |title=Het Feestmaal |date=1997 |publisher=[Meulenhoff](/source/Meulenhoff) |isbn=978-9-029-05564-2 |location=Holland |language=nl}} * {{Cite book |title=Gods of Babel |date=2011 |publisher=[Salmon Poetry](/source/Salmon_Poetry) |isbn=978-1-907-05680-2}} ===Fictional Memoir === * {{Cite book |title=The State of Dark |date=2022 |publisher=[The Lilliput Press](/source/The_Lilliput_Press) |isbn=978-1-843-51850-1 |location=Dublin}} === Novels === * {{Cite book |title=Argelozen in het Circus |date=1992 |publisher=Toth |isbn=978-9-068-68040-9 |location=Holland |language=nl}} * {{Cite book |first= |title=De Beul |date=2000 |publisher=[Meulenhoff](/source/Meulenhoff) |isbn=978-9-029-05836-0 |language=nl}} * {{Cite book |title=Gael |date=2006 |publisher=Saqi Books |isbn=978-1-846-59193-8 |location=London |language=en}} == References == {{reflist}} == External links == * {{Cite journal |last=Jadot |first=Marie |date=2023-11-27 |title=Étrangeté et musicalité dans l'œuvre de Judith Mok |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/311614 |journal=VI Convegno Internazionale di Letteratura e Psicanalisi |publisher=[University of Liège](/source/University_of_Li%C3%A8ge)|hdl=2268/311614 }} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mok, Judith}} Category:2024 deaths Category:People from Bergen, North Holland Category:21st-century Dutch novelists Category:Dutch women novelists Category:Dutch women poets Category:Dutch operatic sopranos Category:Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni Category:21st-century Dutch women writers Category:1954 births --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Judith Mok](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Mok) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Mok?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.