Nominees C. Buddingh’-prize 2024 known

April 23, 2024

De maan schijnt feller in de Metaverse by Merel van Slobbe, De richting is richting omleiding by Bob Vanden Broeck, Indolente by Dewi de Nijs Bik and Rozige Maanvissen by Sytse Jansma are nominated for the C. Buddingh'-prijs 2024. The jury consisting of Joost Oomen (chairman), Lisette Ma Neza and Toef Jaeger chose the four nominees from a total of 24 poetry collections that were submitted. The C. Buddingh' Prize honours the best Dutch-language poetry debut of the year and has been awarded by Poetry International since 1988.

The winner of the 2024 C. Buddingh' Prize will be announced on Saturday, June 1, in the radio program Een uur Cultuur. On Saturday, June 8, the poets will perform together at the Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam. During this show, the most striking new voices in Dutch poetry will amplify each other.

About the nominees:

De maan schijnt feller in de Metaverse - Merel van Slobbe

_{Publisher De Arbeiderspers}

From the jury statement:

'More and more poets write their poetry while the internet buzzes in the background. Merel van Slobbe is one of them, and it certainly does not do any harm to her work. As full as De maan schijnt feller in de Metaverse is of contemporary elements that will eventually date the poems, it is about something. Where does a world, where avatars and algorithms have so much say, leave the individual? In poetry, that much is certain.'

Merel van Slobbe is a writer and poet. She studied philosophy at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. In 2018, she won the second prize at De Gedichtenwedstrijd and in 2019, Aan de rand van een lichaam, een chapbook was published by Wintertuin.

De maan schijnt feller in de Metaverse has also been nominated for the Grand Poetry Prize.


De richting is richting omleiding - Bob Vanden Broeck

_{Publisher Het Balanseer}

From the jury statement:

'De richting is richting omleiding is, a looker of words. The narrator of the collection looks at the world he walks through with the understated humor that is necessary. He knows how to place the strange, at times cheerful, at times poignant things he comes across in the reader's head through delicate sentences. Not gratuitously, nor jokingly, but with the necessary lightness that poetry as well as the world sometimes needs.'

Bob Vanden Broeck is a teacher of Art and Cultural History at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp. His poetry has already appeared in publications including nY, De Revisor and Het Liegend Konijn. He is currently working on Je zit op een stoel, a novel set in an office surrounded by mist and darkness.


Indolent - Dewi de Nijs Bik

_{Publisher De Arbeiderspers}

From the jury statement:

'With a clear look at history, Indolente draws us into both the everyday and the otherworldly. Dewi de Nijs Bik is researching closely, which invites interaction; she dares to tag you along to places and voices that are constantly silenced. And yet she does not shout her subject, she puts it poetically, with love and courage, she gives you a detailed world and a language that keeps you thinking.'

Dewi de Nijs Bik has previously published in Poëziekrant and DWB, among others. She was selected for the Paris residency of deBuren and for the mini-tour Vers van het Mes. Since 2012, she has provided in-depth interviews for the Indian monthly magazine Moesson.

Indolent has also been nominated for the Grand Poetry Prize.


Rozige Maanvissen - Sytse Jansma

_{Publisher Atlas Contact}

From the jury statement:

'In Rozige Maanvissen, a very personal suffering, the sudden loss of your loved one, is elevated to great poetry. Of course, more poets strive for this, but the special thing about this collection is that the entire poetic bag of tricks is thrown open, a bag of tricks that the poet knows well and knows how to use excellently, so that the authenticity and rawness of the sadness cuts right through all those tricks. You believe the poet when he tries, almost desperately at times, to turn everything that language can be into a lifebuoy.'

Sytse Jansma lives in Harlingen and is a poet and visual artist. He published two collections of poetry in Frisian and his work appears in literary magazines such as De Revisor, de Moanne and Ensafh. With his poetry he often seeks crossovers with other art forms: music, theater and visual arts.


The C. Buddingh' Prize
Since 1988, Poetry International has annually awarded the best Dutch-language poetry debut with the C.Buddingh' Prize. Through this Poetry International draws attention to talented new voices in Dutch poetry. For many renowned poets, the C.Buddingh' Prize was the first important trophy they won. Joke van Leeuwen, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer and Anna Enquist, or more recently Lieke Marsman, Ellen Deckwitz, Lucas Rijneveld and Radna Fabias are among the laureates. In 2023 the prize went to Alara Adilow for Mythen en stoplichten.



Poetry International Festival Rotterdam – June 6 to 9, 2024
From the 6th till the 9th of June, the 54th Poetry International Festival Rotterdam gets the most out of poetry and the poetry out of everything. With poets and spoken word artists from all over the world and partners from far and near, the festival presents unique poetry performances, theme specials, workshops, interviews and interactive programs. Come watch the world's best poets as they break the boundaries of traditional literary expression and engage in dialogue with artists from diverse fields such as fashion, comics, therapy, karaoke, philosophy and much more. With Linton Kwesi Johnson, Asmaa Azaizeh, Victoria Chang, Felix Chow, Astrid Lampe, Babs Gons and Neeltje Maria Min, among others. For more information, visit Poetry International Festival.