Maria Barnas

(Hoorn, NL, 1973) is a writer, poet, and visual artist. Both her writing and art explore how depictions of reality are shaped and distorted. In 2014 she won the Anna Bijns Prize for Jaja de oerknal (Yaya the Big Bang, 2013). The jury praised the "linguistic universe" of this third collection: "Barnas uses poetry as a way to throw a canvas of words over everything. Each poem is an attempt to capture something ethereal, to preserve, to document." Barnas studied at Amsterdam's Rietveld Academy and Rijks Academy. Her 2003 poetry debut Twee zonnen (Two Suns) won the C. Buddingh Prize in 2004. This was followed by the 2009 J.C. Bloem Prize for Er staat een stad op (A City Stands On It, 2007). Barnas also writes about art and literature for De Groene Amsterdammer and Vrij Nederland magazines, among others. Her NRC Handelsblad newspaper columns from 2007 to 2010 are anthologized in Fantastisch (Fantastic). She also published two novels, Engelen van ijs (Ice Angels, 2007) and De baadster (The Bather, 2000).