The Johan Polak Poetry Prize is a literary award with a prize of €50,000 that has been awarded to the author of the best Dutch-language poetry collection of the past three years. Unlike other poetry prizes, a collection may therefore compete for the prize during a maximum of three years. The Johan Polak Foundation for the Preservation of Special Books finances this wonderful prize and guarantees its continued existence for at least 25 years, starting in 2024.

The prize is awarded by the Johan Polak Poetry Prize Foundation. The board of this foundation puts together a regularly changing, professional and independent jury that selects the winning collection according to the regulations of this prize.

The award ceremony takes place annually on a day near May 25th, the anniversary of Johan Polak's death. In 2024, the prize was awarded on Friday 31 May to Sasja Janssen for her collection Virgula. Now, we are looking forward to the award ceremony of the Johan Polak Poetry Prize 2025, honouring Mustafa Stitou for his collection Waar is het lam?, which will take place on Sunday June 15th, during the Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam. Be our guest!