{{Short description|Surinamese writer (Surinamese writer (born 1959)}} {{Infobox person | name = Marylin Simons | image = File:Marylinsimons.jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1959|10|16}} | birth_place = Paramaribo, Suriname | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | occupation = Writer and columnist | other_names = | notable_works = ''In naam van God en Obia'' (2002)<br>''Carrousel'' (2003) | education = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Marylin Simons''' (born 16 October 1959)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.surinameview.com/sranan/literatuur/s-z/marylin-simons/|title=Marylin Simons|access-date=12 March 2021|language=nl|website=Suriname View|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023202547/https://www.surinameview.com/sranan/literatuur/s-z/marylin-simons/|url-status=live}}</ref> is a Surinamese writer and columnist. She is best known for ''In naam van God en Obia'' (2002), for which she was awarded the {{ill|Kwaku Literature Prize|nl|Kwakoe Literatuurprijs}},<ref name="nu">{{cite web|url=https://www.suriname.nu/701vips/schrijver11.html|title=Marilyn Simons|website=Suriname.nu|access-date=12 March 2021|language=nl|archive-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020135947/https://suriname.nu/701vips/schrijver11.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and her youth book ''Carrousel'' (2003).<ref name="oso">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_oso001200401_01/_oso001200401_01_0012.php|title=Marylin Simons|magazine=OSO|page=117|series=OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinaamse taalkunde, letterkunde en geschiedenis|year=2003|language=nl|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183256/https://dbnl.org/tekst/_oso001200401_01/_oso001200401_01_0012.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="youth">{{cite web|url=https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/avonturen-met-jeugdboeken/|title=Avonturen met jeugdboeken|website=Werkgroup Caraibische Letteren|access-date=12 March 2021|language=nl|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026125004/https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/avonturen-met-jeugdboeken/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Biography== Marilyn Simons was born on 16 October 1959 in Paramaribo, Suriname. She went to the Netherlands to study higher vocational education.<ref name="unlimited">{{cite web|url=https://www.writersunlimited.nl/en/participant/marylin-simons|title=Marylin Simons|website=Writers Unlimited|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=26 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926223722/https://www.writersunlimited.nl/en/participant/marylin-simons|url-status=live}}</ref> After graduating, she returned to Suriname in 1982.<ref name="nu"/>
Simons started to work as a columnist for the magazine ''De Tweede Ronde'', and the newspaper ''De Ware Tijd''.<ref name="nu"/> Simons made her literary debut in 2001, at ''De Tweede Ronde'', and won the story-writing contest for the 700th edition of ''De Ware Tijd Literair''.<ref name="vooys">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_voo013201101_01/_voo013201101_01_0009.php|title='Het literair canon'|author=Michiel van Kempen|magazine=Vooys |issue=29 |year=2011|language=nl|page=85|access-date=2021-03-12|archive-date=2021-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127141044/https://dbnl.org/tekst/_voo013201101_01/_voo013201101_01_0009.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2002, Simons wrote ''In naam van God en Obia'' (''In name of God and Obia''), a family drama, for which she was awarded the {{ill|Kwaku Literature Prize|nl|Kwakoe Literatuurprijs}} a former stimulus prize for Surinamese authors.<ref name="nu"/> In 2003,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dbnl.org/titels/titel.php?id=simo028carr01|title=Carrousel|website=Digital Library for Dutch Literature|access-date=12 March 2021|language=nl|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415031803/https://www.dbnl.org/titels/titel.php?id=simo028carr01|url-status=live}}</ref> she wrote ''Carrousel'' which was originally published by ''Okopipi'' in Paramaribo, but has become better known as ''Koorddansers'' (2006), an extended republication by the Dutch publisher ''De Geus''.<ref name="vooys"/> The book is intended for both adults and youths.<ref name="youth"/> In 2004, Simons released ''Anansi Dala'', a picture book about the spider Anansi.<ref name="anansi">{{cite web|url=https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/dieren-in-de-surinaamse-kinderliteratuur-info-voor-jeugdbegeleiders/|title=Dieren in de Surinaamse kinderliteratuur: info voor jeugdbegeleiders|website=Werkgroep Caraibische Letteren|access-date=12 March 2021|language=nl|archive-date=14 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514082622/https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/dieren-in-de-surinaamse-kinderliteratuur-info-voor-jeugdbegeleiders/|url-status=live}}</ref>
A notable feature of stories by Simons is her tendency to break taboos, and that the characters tend to show the diversity in Surinamese Dutch, which alternates from Sranan Tongo to "Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands", the old term for posh civilized Dutch.<ref name="oso"/>
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == * [https://www.dbnl.org/titels/titel.php?id=simo028carr01 ''Carrousel''] Available for free download at the Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Marylin}} Category:1959 births Category:Surinamese children's writers Category:Surinamese women children's writers Category:Surinamese women writers Category:Writers from Paramaribo Category:Living people