Hans Tentije

(Beverwijk, 1944) is the winner of the 2017 Constantijn Huygens Prize, which is awarded for an entire body of poetic work. Tentije, the pseudonym of Johann Krämer, has written 16 volumes of poetry since his 1975 debut. Cynicism - motivated by the fact that the promise and expectations of the late sixties never materialized - is a constant in his work. His poetry is not subject to fashion and seeks precise words to express the elusive. His style is in line with the American epic tradition. In long, descriptive poems, he visits places where the passage of time is tangible. His eye for detail and striking characters and landscapes distinguishes his work. At the same time, he sometimes creates a certain indefinability whereby dreams, reality and imagination merge, leading to special insights. Tentije previously took home awards such as the Van der Hoogt Prize and the Guido Gezelle Prize.