Geert Buelens wins the Boon, Flanders’ most significant literature prize

© Bob van Mol - From over eight hundred books submitted, the jury has named Wat we toen al wisten: De vergeten groene geschiedenis van 1972  ( What We Knew Back Then: The Forgotten Green History of 1972 ) as winner of the  2023 Boon Literatuurprijs. Geert Buelens  thus wins Flanders' most significant literature prize. In-depth and relevant. The jury speaks highly about Buelens'  Wat we toen al wisten . "A recurring theme in the books on climate that we read was despair. Geert Buelens transcends that attitude by writing a cultural history in which he links the personal to the scientific, the political and social debate to literature and other art, and the almost forgotten climate awareness of 1972 to our present time. The result is an in-depth, unconventional, very well-written, relevant non-fiction book." - Environmental year 1972.