J. S. Margot © Tom Van Nuffel
J. S. Margot [Belgium]
Born in 1967 in Hasselt, Belgium, J. S. Margot is a writer and journalist. She earned international fame through her book Mazzel Tov (2017), in which her experience as a private teacher inside a Jewish Orthodox family serves as the backdrop for a world filled with unique characters who come from a variety of socioeconomic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Difficult connection is part of life, on both a small and large scale. Like Mazzel tov, Vanderstraeten’s other novels and nonfiction works make a moving plea for openness and tolerance, while at the same time never denying the difficulties: living together means living with collisions.
In January 2018, Queen Mathilde of Belgium selected Mazzel tov as her favourite book. Mazzel tov has won several prizes and awards, as have other of J. S. Margot ’s books.
Vanderstraeten attended primary school in the multicultural mining town of Meulenberg, where her mother was a teacher. She spent the first twelve years of her life in a very diverse environment. By the time she left that school, the coal mines were already closing. As a child, she experienced the social unrest in the region firsthand, as her grandfather was a coal miner. She studied French-Spanish translation at the Higher Institute for Translators and Interpreters (HIVT) in Antwerp. After her studies, it soon became clear that she could never become a translator, as she could rarely resist the urge to completely rewrite the original text.
She began to write stories for the press. Her articles quickly caught the attention of Flanders’ two quality newspapers. As a freelancer, she mainly worked for De Standaard and De Morgen: long stories and in-depth interviews became her speciality. In addition to her journalistic work, she has written twelve novels and literary nonfiction books to date. Mazzel tov and Minjan (tr: Minyan) have been translated into several languages. Wij, Roma (tr: We, Roma), a rare glimpse into a closed world, is her latest book. It was published in August 2024.
J. S. Margot is said to have reinvented nonfiction literature, whether it goes by the name of literary journalism or journalistic literature. The writer herself is convinced that this genre is a necessary way to provide nuance to the polarized and hasty voices of today. She was the first woman to receive a regular column, in daily rotation with a male columnist, on the front page of daily newspaper De Morgen.
She became a member of the council of the Dutch Language Union, and also served as a ‘practice assistant’ in interview techniques at Ghent University.
Her journalism has also found its way onto television: On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the bankruptcy of Belgian airline Sabena, J. S. Margot conceived the idea of a documentary series about the history of aviation in her country, which was also a history of aviation worldwide. She did research, sought out interviewees, conducted interviews, and co-wrote the screenplay. The five-part documentary series Sabena aired on Canvas and was very successful.
J. S. Margot resides in Antwerp.