Article
Which Dutch poetry collection will be chosen as the best of 2012?
VSB Poetry Prize Shortlist Announced
November 06, 2012
In an intermediary report, the jury released their comments on each collection:
Vliegtuigmagneet (Airplane Magnet) - H.H. ter Balkt
(De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam 2011)
H.H. ter Balkt spits and growls, whispers and sings like a visionary with both feet solidly on the clay ground of the polder and of history. The poet is wilful and open, erudite and playful. His images function in both concrete and referential ways, images from reality challenging the things they connote. Just as an airplane magnet draws and pushes away, the poems are tightly drawn between the dual forces of attraction and repulsion.
Read 'Singraven Castle' from H.H. ter Balkt's collection Vliegtuigmagneet, and listen to him recite it in the original Dutch.
Wijvenheide – Luuk Gruwez
(De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam 2012)
The formally-aware, linguistic virtuosity of this collection moves effortlessly between different stylistic registers, between the exalted and the everyday. In shaping his poetic world, the poet eschews neither the scabrous nor the banal. He creates original images, often mitigated with a humorous touch to offset the underlying seriousness. A nuanced leave-taking is not given a weighty or melancholic charge but rather is looked at from an unusual perspective, with critical distance.
Read 'Wijvenheide' from Luuk Gruwez's collection of the same name, and listen to him recite it in the original Dutch.
Celinspecties (Cell Inspections) – Ester Naomi Perquin
(Van Oorschot, Amsterdam 2012)
The poet shows that a cell is as large as a mind, which can imagine a universe – as large as the world which Perquin uncompromisingly and tenderly unravels. In a deceptively light tone and with unexpected twists, Perquin creates a many-layered space in this collection. More than just the history of individual criminals, Cell Inspections becomes a world from which we cannot escape, with questions concerning guilt and chance, from which our lives are built.
Read 'Conversation on the Street' from Ester Naomi Perquin's collection Celinspecties, and listen to her recite it in the original Dutch.
Virtualia. Teletonen (Virtualia. Teletones) – Sybren Polet
(Wereldbibliotheek, Amsterdam 2012)
A dynamic explosion of language in which that old chestnut of the tension between nature and culture is brought back to life by an injection of intellectual force, word-play and indignation. The financial crisis, the digitalisation of our culture and other contemporary obsessions are captured in words and images that have little to do with poetic good taste and which continually grope for the boundary between what can be said and what can be understood. In this collection, a poet speaks openly and with an unshakeable belief in the transformative powers of thought and language.
Read 'Space Glow' from Sybren Polet's collection Virtualia. Teletonen, and listen to him recite it in the original Dutch.
Mijn naam is Legioen (My Name is Legion) – Menno Wigman
(Prometheus, Amsterdam 2012)
In a critical review of the early years of our century, Wigman evokes recognisable places and moments in time that recall decadence and death. The poet mercilessly unmasks the illusion of the phenomenon that is man and articulates his pessimism and anger in shocking poems; poems that are nevertheless harmonious in their almost classical, rigid verses with a mesmerizing rhythm. At the same time, this often confrontational collection fascinates with its great vigour and its charming light-footedness. An unusual power arises from these contrasting elements.
Read 'Room 421' from Menno Wigman's collection Mijn naam is Legioen, and listen to him recite it in the original Dutch.
The jury on the 75 collections submitted for the prize
According to the jury, “Poetry publishing doesn’t seem to have escaped the recession: with 75 titles submitted, the yield for the 2013 VSB Poetry Prize is noticeably smaller than in previous years. The economic crisis has not had an effect on poetic diversity, however. This has actually increased over the past decade. Very personal verse is as strongly represented as ‘public poetry’ with both feet in the here and now. After gaining in popularity over the course of several years, prose poetry now has a stable foothold, and the importance of performance poetry is growing. Many writers are experimenting with conceptual – and remarkably bulky – collections. The jury compliments the publishing houses, who have continued with established names as well as bringing out new talent in a shrinking market.”
The winner of the 2013 VSB Poetry Prize will be announced on 30 January 2013.
The jury of the VSB Poetry Prize has shortlisted poetry collections by H.H. ter Balkt, Luuk Gruwez, Ester Naomi Perquin, Sybren Polet and Menno Wigman for the 2013 VSB Poetry Prize. The VSB Poetry Prize, with which Poetry International is involved, is the leading prize for Dutch-language poetry and is awarded annually to the best poetry collection of the previous year. The winner receives €25,000 and a unique glass artwork by Maria Roosen. The ceremony for this year’s VSB Poetry Prize will take place on 30 January 2013, and is the opening event of the Dutch national Poetry Week.
As is the case each year, these five poets were nominated for their new collections; Vliegtuigmagneet (Airplane Magnet), Wijvenheide (Wijvenheide – a Flemish nature reserve – ed.), Celinspecties (Cell Inspections), Virtualia. Teletonen (Virtualia. Teletones) and Mijn naam is Legioen (My Name is Legion). In an intermediary report, the jury released their comments on each collection:
Vliegtuigmagneet (Airplane Magnet) - H.H. ter Balkt
(De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam 2011)
H.H. ter Balkt spits and growls, whispers and sings like a visionary with both feet solidly on the clay ground of the polder and of history. The poet is wilful and open, erudite and playful. His images function in both concrete and referential ways, images from reality challenging the things they connote. Just as an airplane magnet draws and pushes away, the poems are tightly drawn between the dual forces of attraction and repulsion.
Read 'Singraven Castle' from H.H. ter Balkt's collection Vliegtuigmagneet, and listen to him recite it in the original Dutch.
Wijvenheide – Luuk Gruwez
(De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam 2012)
The formally-aware, linguistic virtuosity of this collection moves effortlessly between different stylistic registers, between the exalted and the everyday. In shaping his poetic world, the poet eschews neither the scabrous nor the banal. He creates original images, often mitigated with a humorous touch to offset the underlying seriousness. A nuanced leave-taking is not given a weighty or melancholic charge but rather is looked at from an unusual perspective, with critical distance.
Read 'Wijvenheide' from Luuk Gruwez's collection of the same name, and listen to him recite it in the original Dutch.
Celinspecties (Cell Inspections) – Ester Naomi Perquin
(Van Oorschot, Amsterdam 2012)
The poet shows that a cell is as large as a mind, which can imagine a universe – as large as the world which Perquin uncompromisingly and tenderly unravels. In a deceptively light tone and with unexpected twists, Perquin creates a many-layered space in this collection. More than just the history of individual criminals, Cell Inspections becomes a world from which we cannot escape, with questions concerning guilt and chance, from which our lives are built.
Read 'Conversation on the Street' from Ester Naomi Perquin's collection Celinspecties, and listen to her recite it in the original Dutch.
Virtualia. Teletonen (Virtualia. Teletones) – Sybren Polet
(Wereldbibliotheek, Amsterdam 2012)
A dynamic explosion of language in which that old chestnut of the tension between nature and culture is brought back to life by an injection of intellectual force, word-play and indignation. The financial crisis, the digitalisation of our culture and other contemporary obsessions are captured in words and images that have little to do with poetic good taste and which continually grope for the boundary between what can be said and what can be understood. In this collection, a poet speaks openly and with an unshakeable belief in the transformative powers of thought and language.
Read 'Space Glow' from Sybren Polet's collection Virtualia. Teletonen, and listen to him recite it in the original Dutch.
Mijn naam is Legioen (My Name is Legion) – Menno Wigman
(Prometheus, Amsterdam 2012)
In a critical review of the early years of our century, Wigman evokes recognisable places and moments in time that recall decadence and death. The poet mercilessly unmasks the illusion of the phenomenon that is man and articulates his pessimism and anger in shocking poems; poems that are nevertheless harmonious in their almost classical, rigid verses with a mesmerizing rhythm. At the same time, this often confrontational collection fascinates with its great vigour and its charming light-footedness. An unusual power arises from these contrasting elements.
Read 'Room 421' from Menno Wigman's collection Mijn naam is Legioen, and listen to him recite it in the original Dutch.
The jury on the 75 collections submitted for the prize
According to the jury, “Poetry publishing doesn’t seem to have escaped the recession: with 75 titles submitted, the yield for the 2013 VSB Poetry Prize is noticeably smaller than in previous years. The economic crisis has not had an effect on poetic diversity, however. This has actually increased over the past decade. Very personal verse is as strongly represented as ‘public poetry’ with both feet in the here and now. After gaining in popularity over the course of several years, prose poetry now has a stable foothold, and the importance of performance poetry is growing. Many writers are experimenting with conceptual – and remarkably bulky – collections. The jury compliments the publishing houses, who have continued with established names as well as bringing out new talent in a shrinking market.”
The winner of the 2013 VSB Poetry Prize will be announced on 30 January 2013.
Translator: Michele Hutchison
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