ABOUT
TINEKE

Who is Tineke?
Tineke Van der Eecken is a Belgian-born Fremantle (Western Australia) based criminologist, artist and writer. She is a published author of 'Café d'Afrique: a Personal Discovery', Traverse and other creative non-fiction and travel writing, and poetry.
Born in 1967 in Sint-Niklaas (Flanders, Belgium), Tineke grew up with a healthy obsession with food and a mother, Nelly Maes, who is known for her active role in Flemish and European politics. The influence of her mother's activism for multi-linguism, her own background as a Criminologist, and her curiosity for people's thinking and other cultures made her travel the world in many different capacities, from UN-staff member to investigative journalist to project manager and small business entrepreneur. She has lived and worked in many countries, including Burundi, Zambia and Australia and continued to travel to remote parts of the world such as Papua New Guinea, Easter Island and Madagascar. The family, including Hannah and Toto, and their dog 'Moose' live in Fremantle, Western Australia.
Her self-inflicted research includes reading, investigating and writing about the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in West Australian prisons, corruption in Zambia under Frederick Chiluba and the links to Belgium. She has published about these topics in MO* magazine and New Internationalist.
Tineke Van der Eecken's writing draws on a rich life experience, a keen interest in people and friendship, and a strong sense of place. 'If everyone shared their story with others, the world would be a better place.' Hence, this author writes autobiographical fiction, poetry and (creative) non-fiction. Her love for language and multilingual background also forms the basis for, award winning poetry, including 'On Language', a trilingual poem based on a bilingual text by Belgian singer and poet Jacques Brel. In 2016 TIneke's manuscript 'Traverse' was shortlisted for the TAG Hungerford Award. The book was published by Wild Weeds Press in 2018.
Professional memberships
-
Board Member of WritingWA
-
Member of Katherine Susannah Pritchard Writers Centre (KSP)
-
Committee member at WA Poets Inc
-
Member of Out of the Asylum Writers (OOTA)
-
Nationally Accredited Mediator with the Australian RESOLUTION INSTITUTE.
Academic background
-
Masters Degree in Criminological Sciences (Ghent, 1991), Postgraduate 'Children's Rights'
-
Romaanse Filologie 1st Kan, University of Antwerp UFSIA, 1985
-
Professional development in writing, editing and investigative journalism
-
Trained and Accredited Mediator, LEADR, 2012
Languages
-
Mother tongue Flemish (Dutch)
-
English (second language)
-
French (fluent)
-
Italian
-
Some German
-
Notions of Kirundi
-
Studied Latin Languages (French and Spanish) at UFSIA (University of Antwerp)
-
Latin and ancient Greek at OLVP High School
Other professional interests
-
Jewellery design and fabrication (Tineke Creations)
- Mediator for the WA Department of Justice
-
Co-coordinator of Poetry d'Amour 2011-2019
-
MC and sessions chair at Perth International Arts Festival Writers Week since 2012
-
Representative of Vlamingen In de Wereld for Western Australia
-
Not-for-profit management (WritingWA, Community Vision Inc, Lung Institute of Western Australia)
Would you like a detailed resume? Use the contact form on this site and we will forward this promptly.
Autobiographical Fiction (full length)
-
Van der Eecken, Tineke. Traverse. Wild Weeds Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0-6483206-7-8, Paperback, 220pp https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0648320677/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2
-
Van der Eecken, Tineke. Cafe d'Afrique. YouwriteOn, London, 2008. ISBN 978-1849233200. https://www.amazon.com/Café-DeAfrique-Tineke-VanEecken/dp/1849233209/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1505369109&sr=8-3&keywords=van+der+eecken
-
Van der Eecken, Tineke. Cafe d'Afrique: A Personal Discovery, Tineke Creations, Perth, 2012. ISBN 978-0-9872492-0-3 https://www.amazon.com/Café-dAfrique-Tineke-VanEecken/dp/0987249207/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505906445&sr=1- 1&keywords=Tineke+Van+der+Eecken
Non-fiction
-
Expeditie Madagaskar, MO*magazine, maart 2008
https://www.mo.be/artikel/expeditie-madagaskar
-
Een Zambiaans plundernetwerk met Belgische draadjes, MO*magazine, oktober 2006
https://www.mo.be/artikel/zambia-plundernetwerk-met-belgische-draadjes
-
Vlaamse vliegende rechter houdt in Australië mensen uit de cel, Het Nieuwsblad, 17 augustus 2004
-
Down Under Boven, De Morgen, 14 augustus 2004
-
Vliegende rechter langs de laatste grens. Slagerszoon uit Bocholt spreekt recht voor Aboriginals in Australië in Het Nieuwsblad/De Gentenaar/Het Volk, 27-28th March 2004
-
Van der Eecken, Tineke. 'Aboriginal sorrow. Aboriginal people in Australian prisons', in: MO* July 2003 (Dutch language) http://www.mo.be/artikel/aboriginals-australische-gevangenissen
-
Van der Eecken, Tineke. 'Grave concerns - Aboriginal deaths in custody', in: New Internationalist, July 2004 http://www.newint.org/columns/currents/2004/07/01/aboriginal-deaths-custody
Investigative Journalism Projects (@ 'Fund Pascal Decroos', Belgium)
-
Stolen Generations + Overrepresentation of Aboriginal Australians in West Australian prisons (2003)
http://www.fondspascaldecroos.org/inhoud/werkbeurs/gestolen-generaties
-
Corruption in Zambia: links to Belgium (2004)
http://www.fondspascaldecroos.org/inhoud/werkbeurs/een-zambiaans-plundernetwerk-metbelgische-draadjes
Poetry
-
'Bush Tucker' published in Famous Reporter 44, December 2012
http://walleahpress.com.au/Tineke.html
-
‘For Séraphine' published in Blackmail Press 31 'Marginalization', New Zealand, January 2012
http://www.blackmailpress.com/TVDE31.html
-
'For Séraphine' spoken word, Going Down Swinging #35, 2014
http://goingdownswinging.org.au/albums/35.html
-
Feature for Uneven Floor, May 2013: includes Parole (with video), For Séraphine, Like a person, Val di Mello (with audio), Plat du jour, A Bark in de Park.
-
Poetry d’Amour Love Poems (2012-now), WA Poets Inc
-
Creative Connections (2012 – now), WA Poets Inc
-
Recoil, Mulla Mulla Press (since 2017)
-
OOTA Anthology, Out of the Asylum Writers, from 2013
-
Creatrix, Poetry and Haiku Journal, since 2011
Short Stories
-
'The Convoy' in Dreamcatcher 24, short story, UK, Summer 2011
-
'Dive the deep blue' in Indigo 5, short story, Australia, Summer 2010
-
‘The Art Critic and Me’ Pen Factor – https://www.penfactor.com/competitions/pub/1465282685915
Other relevant experiences - Literary Awards
-
Shortlisted for TAG Hungerford Awards 2016 with unpublished manuscript 'Traverse'
https://www.fremantlepress.com.au/c/hungerford/5761-tineke-van-der-eecken
-
'Highly Commended' OOTA Poetry Awards 2012 for 'Ode to Brel'
-
Winner Katherine W Treanor Poetry Award 2011 for 'On Language'