Lieke Marsman

Lieke Marsman debuted at the age of 20 with Wat ik mijzelf graag voorhoud (‘What I Like to Impress on Myself’), which a year later earned her the C. Buddingh’ Prize and the Lucy B. and C.W. van der Hoogt Prize. Her second book of poetry, De eerste letter (‘The First Letter’), in which the theme of existential angst plays a prominent role, came out in 2014. Her first novel, Het tegenovergestelde van een mens (‘The Opposite of a Human Being’), published in 2017, combines prose, essay and poetry and discusses one of the most important and topical issues of the moment: climate change. Her recently published collection De volgende scan duurt vijf minuten (‘The Following Scan Will Last Five Minutes’) was written after she was diagnosed with cancer and deals with illness and healthcare as well as the state of contemporary Dutch politics.

Lieke Marsman is the Dutch Poet Laureate 2021-2022.