Miriam Van hee

(Belgium, 1952) did Slavonic studies in Ghent and lectured Russian Literature and Grammar in Antwerp. She made her debut in 1978 with the book of poetry Het karige maal (The meagre meal), which was awarded the East Flemish Prize for Literature. In that same year, with the series of poetry books together with the Masereelfonds she started the dissemination of international poetry. She translated work by Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam and Josef Brodsky, among others. In 2007 the London Poetry Society tipped an anthology with English translations of her work and she was recipient of the Jan Campert Award for Winterhard. 2007 also saw the publication of Buitenland (Abroad), awarded with the Herman de Coninck Prize – both the professional and the public awards. For Ook daar valt het licht (There falls the light too; 2013) she was nominated for the VSB Poetry Prize. The jury: ’Van hee finds a balance between commitment to the world and individual loss, as well as having an eye for the greater history and intimistic observation. This poet is a rocket: she doesn't illuminate but reminds us that there is luminance.’