The Coming of Joachim Stiller () is a novel by the Belgian author Hubert Lampo, first published in 1960. It deals with the coming and death of Joachim Stiller, a messiah-like figure, and has magical-realist elements in it. An English translation by Marga Emlyn-Jones was published in 1974. A film based on the novel was made in 1976.
Plot summary
The main character in the novel is Freek Groenevelt, a 37-year-old journalist living in Antwerp. From a café, he witnesses four workers breaking up a street and then closing it up again, for no apparent reason. When he decides to write an article about the event, he is contacted by a member of the Antwerp city council, Mr. Keldermans.
Mr. Keldermans explains to Groenevelt that things are happening which he does not understand and make him afraid. Groenevelt is sceptical at first, but Keldermans seems honest and Groenevelt leaves in a state of confusion.
He then receives a letter from Joachim Stiller, in which Stiller announces that the event he witnessed is a portent.