Long live poetry!

The best poets of the year read their poetry. Those nominated for the VSB Poetry Award, Luuk Gruwez, Ester Naomi Perquin and Menno Wigman, perform together with Ellen Deckwitz (C. Buddingh' Prize 2012 for the best poetic debut) and Rodaan Al Galidi (Literature prize of the European Union).
A programme in cooperation with Poetry International. In Dutch.

Information

Date and time Saturday 19 January 2013 22:45 tot 23:30 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - grote zaal

The best poets of the year read their poetry. Those nominated for the VSB Poetry Award, Luuk Gruwez, Ester Naomi Perquin and Menno Wigman perform together with Ellen Deckwitz (C. Buddingh' Prize 2012 for the best poetic debut) and Rodaan Al Galidi (Literature prize of the European Union) open the night with cheerful poems and thoughts. A programme in cooperation with Poetry International. In Dutch.

Ellen Deckwitz

(The Netherlands, 1982) is a poet, columnist, critic and presenter at literary events, including Writers Unlimited. For De steen vreest mij (2011), she was awarded the C. Buddingh’ Prize for the best poetry debut. Her collection Hogere natuurkunde (2019) is part travelogue, part myth and part testimony, and the outcome of conversations Deckwitz engaged in with individuals whose roots also trace back to the former Dutch East Indies. In 2022, Eerste hulp bij poëzie was published, an omnibus containing her collections Olijven moet je leren lezen (2020) and Dit gaat niet over grasmaaien (2021). Deckwitz writes columns for national daily newspaper NRC. In her NPO Luister podcast Poëzie vandaag, she presents a Dutch or translated poem every workday morning. She is one of three critics of podcast Boeken FM. Since Autumn 2025, she has been one of the presenters of Nooit meer Slapen, the VPRO's night-time cultural radio programme.

Instagram: @la_deck
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Rodaan Al Galidi

(Iraq, 1971) fled his country in 1998 after completing architecture studies, was given asylum in the Netherlands and settled there legally in 2007. Since then he has published poetry, novels and collections of his columns. He received the 2000 El Hizjra literature award and the 2011 Literature Prize of the European Union. In 2013 he published Liever niet, antwoordt de liefde (Maybe Not, Was Love's Reply), an anthology of refreshing love poetry. His novel Hoe ik talent voor het leven kreeg (Two Blankets, Three Sheets) tells of his experiences as an asylum seeker in the Netherlands. Al Galidi published the short story collection Duizend-en-een-nachtmerries (A Thousand and One Nightmares) in 2017 and a poem collection Neem de titel serieus (Take the title seriously) in 2018.
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Luuk Gruwez

(Belgium, 1954) is a writer, poet and essayist. He made his debut at the age of twenty with the collection of poetry Stofzuigergedichten (Vacuumcleaner Poems). As one of the first Flemish poets of his generation, Gruwez has no difficulty with heavy feelings, big words. Love and death take central stage, as does the writing process. Sensuality, lyricism and emotions are sometimes accompanied with a large dose of irony. His poems are an attempt to steer chaotic reality, rigid classical forms and sound repetitions must create structure. In the course of time Gruwez' work has become more universal and less emphatically poetical. His views on the role of literature Luuk Gruwez shares in all his work: poetry, prose, essays and in magazines and daily newspapers such as Yang, Dietsche Warande & Belfort, and daily papers such as De Standaard and De Morgen. He writes fulltime, after having worked for a long time in art education as a teacher. In 2012 his anthology Wijvenheide, appeared, which was nominated for the VSB Poetry Award.
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Menno Wigman

(Beverwijk, NL 1966) made his debut in 1997 with the collection of poems 's Zomers stinken alle steden (In the Summer all Cities Smell). The tone which this 'dandy of disillusion' set in his debut was worked out in his later work. Poems going back to historical heroes and literary giants, in contrast to everyday banalities like department stores and hamburger joints. In the poems the influence of music on the work of this former punk rocker becomes visible: metric structure, strong rhythm and ample rhyme. His debut was followed by Zwart als kaviaar: (Black like Caviar), recipient of the Jan Campert Award, and Dit is mijn dag (This is My Day) and De wereld bij avond, (The world at Night). In 2009 he published a selection of his poetry in De droefenis van copyrettes (The Sadness of Copy Marts). In 2010 his book of essays appeared: Red ons van de dichters (Deliver Us from the Poets). In January 2012, the month in which Wigman became Amsterdam's 'city poet' Mijn naam is Legioen, (My Name Is Legion) appeared, which was nominated for the prestigious VSB Poetry Award.
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Ester Naomi Perquin

(Utrecht, NL 1980) during her training at a creative writing school Perquin worked as a warder in a Rotterdam prison. She made her debut in 2007 with the collection of poetry Servetten Halfstok Napkins Half-mast, which was nominated for the C. Buddingh’ Prize and ultimately awarded the debut prize of Het Liegend Konijn (the Lying Rabbit), among others. The jury praised the persistent mastery of metre and rhythm and stressed the scope of her subject-matter. Her next collection, Namens de ander On Behalf of the Other was awarded the Jo Peters Poetry Prize and the J.C. Bloem Award. She is a columnist for the weekly De Groene Amsterdammer and VPRO De Avonden radio programme and is on the board of editors of Tirade. She is the Rotterdam 'city poet' and actively involved as a poet, producer and interviewer at literary events in that city. In her third collection, Celinspecties (Cell Inspections), she goes back to her past as a prison warder. It appeared early 2012 and has been nominated for the VSB Poetry Award 2013.
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Trio Koenijn

is a part of Circus Treurdier, which was founded in 2008 by Thomas Spijkerman – from the idea that talented theatre makers have to unite, both businesswise and artistically. Seeing the need that together people have to find new, interesting forms of musical theatre. That those new forms must emanate from an autonomous artistic organisation, from the need to keep developing the Treurdierian style. Trio Koenijn consists of the by now famous cult figure “Koenijn” (philosopher in rabbit outfit) and his two musical cronies, Frank van Kasteren and Wilko Sterke.
 
Koenijn you may know from his own tv series Koenijn is een wijsneus (Koenijn is a smart aleck), his medium-sized role in the feature film Hondenhel (Dog's Hell) or his recently appeared book of poetry entitled Blanco (Blank).
 Also he is portrayed on fly-overs or white walls regularly. Although the latter is of course forbidden. Het Koenijn sings songs from antiquity and the near future. The work of obscure and less obscure writers.
 With his own characteristic (falsetto) voice. Accompanied on guitar, saxophone and the piano.
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