- In 1980, he was awarded the first Europalia prize for his entire oeuvre.
- In 1957, he published the short story De ontaarde slapers (The depraved sleepers ), about one of his main themes - the unequal battle between individuals and their communities.
- After he finished high school in 1947, he attended the University of Ghent to study Germanic philology. He dropped out after a year, which he has claimed was a consequence of the deep impact on him of the death of his older brother in 1948. He wrote five poems on the occasion of his brother's death, which were distributed among family and friends.
- During the sixties and seventies he traveled a great deal to research magazine articles and visited Poland, the Soviet Union, Canada, and Argentina.
- In 1961, with the novel Het dal van Hinnom, he broke with church and society.
- His most widely read book Wierook en tranen (nl) ("Incense and Tears") was published in 1958.
- Ruyslinck's work combines social commitment with a pessimistic view of life, humor, and satire.
- After the suicide of his wife in 1990, he moved to Meise to live with his mistress Monika Lo Cascio. Ward Ruyslinck and Monika Lo Cascio jointly wrote the autobiographical novel De speeltuin ("The Playground") in 1992.
- In 1975, he became a member of The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium, and he became its president in 1985.
- Ruyslinck's work combines social commitment with a pessimistic view of life, humor, and satire. Several of his works were adapted for theatre. De slakken, Golden Ophelia, and Wierook en tranen were made into movies.
- From time to time, admirers of Ward Ruyslinck have cited him as one of the favorite Belgian authors for the Nobel Prize in Literature , alongside Louis Paul Boon and Hugo Claus .
- Ruyslinck interwove social criticism and hope for a better time throughout his work because he went through his adolescence during the Second World War. He questioned the major oppressive systems such as capitalism and communism, the (Catholic) religion and the state with its military apparatus. Yet this criticism is expressed cautiously, sometimes sentimentally, sometimes pathetically. As a result, his style appeared somewhat bombastic in the 21st century, while his questions remain current.
- His work has been translated into sixteen languages. (Mainly English and German).
- As an author he was free and frank, almost exhibitionist. When writing, he fearlessly criticized abuses in society and did not shy away from kicking ass. In addition, as Raymond de Belser, he was a quiet, anxious man in everyday life who preferred to hide behind the curtains. He only spoke openly about his life and work with friends he completely trusted.
- Since Ruyslinck did not present himself as the great reformer or iconoclast and his stories describe the petty-bourgeois toiling existence of the majority, he did not encounter rejection from the Belgian establishment.
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