Ester Naomi Perquin

(Utrecht, NL 1980) during her training at a creative writing school Perquin worked as a warder in a Rotterdam prison. She made her debut in 2007 with the collection of poetry Servetten Halfstok Napkins Half-mast, which was nominated for the C. Buddingh’ Prize and ultimately awarded the debut prize of Het Liegend Konijn (the Lying Rabbit), among others. The jury praised the persistent mastery of metre and rhythm and stressed the scope of her subject-matter. Her next collection, Namens de ander On Behalf of the Other was awarded the Jo Peters Poetry Prize and the J.C. Bloem Award. She is a columnist for the weekly De Groene Amsterdammer and VPRO De Avonden radio programme and is on the board of editors of Tirade. She is the Rotterdam 'city poet' and actively involved as a poet, producer and interviewer at literary events in that city. In her third collection, Celinspecties (Cell Inspections), she goes back to her past as a prison warder. It appeared early 2012 and has been nominated for the VSB Poetry Award 2013.