Jotie T'Hooft

Johan Geeraard Adriaan T'Hooft (9 May 1956 – 6 October 1977) was a Flemish Belgian neo-romantic poet.
His life and death by overdose were made into a movie, the English title Junkie's Sorrow.

Life

Jotie T'Hooft was born in Oudenaarde, Belgium. He was an only child. During his younger years, he was an excellent student, but had difficulties adjusting to life as a secondary school student. He was expelled from several schools by the time he was 14. It is then that he sought safety in literature, especially the works of Franz Kafka and Hermann Hesse, and in drugs.

He moved out at age 17 to study in Ghent. However, his drug habit prevented him from ever beginning his studies. In 1973 he made his first suicide attempt.

He married in 1974. His father-in-law was a publisher who agreed to publish his works.

Alter ego

Jotie used the alter ego Charles Louis Daenen, he also used to dress up and perform as this alter ego on poetry recitals where he first appeared as Jotie.

T'Hooft died from an overdose of cocaine in 1977.

Themes

The most obvious theme in his poetry is death. This is perfectly characterized by a phrase from one of his poems: I am world, in me unstoppably the death flower has awoken. According to his poetry, he sees himself as a stranger; the world is a foreign place to him.