Belgian writer. Paul was the last of seven children born to a Dutch father and Flemish mother. van Ostaijen's first volume of verse , "Music Hall" was published in 1916 while he was working as a municipal clerk. During this time, he also formed an artistic movement "Bond Zonder Verzegeld Paper (Bond Without Sealed Paper)", with four other writers. His first volume was followed two years later by "Het sienjaal (The Signal)." He also became involved in the Flemish independence movement. His actions merited him a three month prison term that the Germans failed to enforce. Following the war, he felt it wiser to self exile to Berlin from 1918-1921. The political climate in Germany steered his writings into a more nihilistic style demonstrated in "Feasts of Fear and Agony" and "Occupied City." However his years in Germany were very productive, his writing included beside prose, essays, manifestos and film outlines. Returning to Antwerp in 1921, his sentence was commuted but he was immediately drafter and sent back to Germany. Returning to his home country after the war, he became a staff writer to a Catholic monthly, contributing over seventy five articles. In later years, he worked as a book seller and had a short stint as an art gallery owner. He continued to write and publish even after hospitalization for tuberculosis which led to his premature death. His burial was attended only by seven people, and none of his family. He was originally buried in Miavoye-Anthée and was later reburied officially in the Honorary Park in Antwerp under a marker designed by Oskar Jespers. In 1996 a statue by Wilfried Pas was unveiled on the occasion of van Ostaijen's birth centennial in Antwerp as well. He is considered to be one of the enduring and influential poets to both the Flemish people and the avant-garde movement.