Wouter Godijn

(Amsterdam, NL 1955) is recipient of the Jan Campert Award 2012 for his book of poetry Hoe H.H. de wereld redde (How H.H. Saved the World). Godijn writes about being ill, dying, and about the power of poetry. Often heavy subjects, but Godijn can be irrepressibly funny. Sometimes it is pure slapstick, sometimes political parable. Wouter Godijn made his debut in 1997 with a novel Witte tongen (White Tongues), but discovered that his potential was first and foremost in poetry. In 2000 he published his first book of poetry, Alle kinderen zijn van glas (All Children Are Made of Glass). In his entire oeuvre what is striking is particularly the contrast between the banal and the exalted. Godijn received nationwide renown when popular Dutch poets Gerrit Komrij and Neeltje Maria Min chose his second anthology, Langzame Nederlaag (Slow Defeat), as their first ever choice of the Dutch Poetry Club. His third anthology De karpers en de krab (The Carps and the Crab)was nominated for the prestigious Dutch poetry award VSB Poëzieprijs. Meanwhile Godijn has published three novels and seven books of poetry.