Poetry International Poetry International
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New director for Poetry International

Tina Umlauf
June 06, 2019
It is our pleasure to announce to you that Inez Boogaarts has been appointed director of Poetry International, starting October 1st. Boogaarts is an accomplished executive with considerable experience in municipal, national and international networks, in the cultural sector as well as in a political-governmental context. At this moment, Boogaarts is director of the Zukunftsakademie NRW in Bochum, the center for cultural diversity and cultural education in the German constituent state North Rhine-Westphalia. Before that, she was director of the Rotterdam Council for Art and Culture, cultural attaché of the Dutch consulate in Düsseldorf and director of SICA, the institute for international cultural policy, precursor of Dutch Culture.
Both the board and the employees are pleased with the appointment. The appointment of Inez Boogaarts means gaining a director with a love for poetry. She is familiar with Poetry International and with the cultural landscape in Rotterdam, in our country, and across the border. We expect her to lay out a new course that will be interesting to all.
 
Boogaarts succeeds Bas Kwakman, who for 16 years led Poetry International and the yearly Poetry International Festival towards the vanguard of the national and international poetry scene. Earlier this year, Kwakman decided to devote his time to his writing and his art, meanwhile staying active in the cultural field. Until the end of June, the organisation will be led by interim director Dries van Ingen.
Boogaarts and Kwakman will both be present at the upcoming festival, where, on June 14th, Kwakman will present his new book ‘In poëzie en oorlog’ (‘In poetry and war’), a personal view on 50 years of Poetry International, published by Arbeiderspers. In early September, we will organize a farewell reception, during which there will be opportunity to thank Bas Kwakman for his time as director.
© Jan Coerwinkel
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