Anneke Brassinga

(Schaarsbergen, 1948) published her first prose and poetry in 1974 under the pseudonym of A. Tuinman in De revisor. She made her debut as a poet in 1987 with the volume Aurora and as a novelist with Hartsvanger (Heartcatcher). She also won fame with her translations of among others Vladimir Nabokov, Oscar Wilde, Sylvia Plath, Jules Verne and W.H. Auden. Her themes are nature and love, but language as well. She is often lauded for her rich vocabulary and her language virtuoso. In her poetry Brassinga deals intimate pin-pricks. She refused the Nijhoff Prize for her translation of Nabokov's The Gift. She did accept other prizes, such as the Herman Gorter Prize, the Paul Snoek Prize and the VSB Poetry Prize. From the very beginning her poetry was received well by most critics.