Paul Demets

(Belgium, 1966) received the Jan Campert Prize for his collection of poetry De Klaverknoop, in which he searches for mankind and every image is laden and meaningful, without making the poetry impenetrable. For his debut De papegaaienziekte (The Parrot Disease, 1999) he received the Prize for Literature of the Province of East Flanders in 2001. He not only writes poetry, but is also a poetry critic for De Standaard, Awater, Poëziekrant and Ons Erfdeel, and essayist. Demets' collection De bloedplek (The Bloodstain, 2011) was awarded the Herman de Coninck Prize, both by the jury and by the public. From the beginning of 2016 until the end of 2019, Demets was countryside poet of East Flanders. As a result, two collections of poetry will be published in the spring of 2020. And he is working on a biography of the Flemish writer and painter Paul Snoek. About poetry he wrote in Vrij Nederland: "I mainly want to see, hear, feel and taste poetry now. Close watching, listening, feeling, tasting."