On Sunday 11 June, Poetry International will award the 36th C. Buddingh' Prize during the festive awards programme at the 53rd Poetry International Festival. We are delighted to introduce the jury of this edition:

Sasja Janssen is a poet and writing teacher. After two novels, she has published five collections of poetry since 2007, which have been nominated for several prizes. Her most recent collection Virgula (2021) was also nominated for four prizes and awarded the Awater Poetry Prize. Together with poet Eva Gerlach, she made the bibliophilic dialogue collection Groet god.

Janita Monna works as a journalist and teacher. For newspaper Trouw, she writes about poetry and conducts interviews with poets and writers. She teaches Dutch and communication at Inholland University of Applied Sciences. From 1999 to 2007, Monna worked as a programmer at Poetry International in Rotterdam. 

Seckou Ouologuem is a pioneer in the Flemish slam poetry scene and has performed on poetry, music and theatre stages worldwide. He started as a backpack rapper so content and rhythm are central to his performances. He has been city poet of Antwerp, museum poet of Bruges and won slam, poetry and rap awards. Seckou supports and organises decolonial movements.