Poetry International Poetry International
Poet

Samantha Barendson

Samantha Barendson

Samantha Barendson

(France, 1976)
Biography

Samantha Barendson, a French poet born in Spain to an Argentinian mother and an Italian father, writes poetry, to quote the poet herself,  ‘the way she would dance the tango’ – as a struggle between love and rage. The tone of her work can be intense, but at the same time succinct, sharp, and phrased simply, in order to reach a larger audience. The father who passed away when Samantha Barendson was two years old plays a large role in her work. Poetry is a tool used by Barendson in her attempts to reconstruct a certain reality, of reducing the truth of memory. Even in her poem 'Poetry is pointless' she emphasizes the meaning of poetry, writing: ‘When the TV is vomiting up all the horrors of the world: war, death, dictatorships, fear (…), then poetry isn’t pointless after all.’

Barendson is an active member of the Collective: “Le syndicat des poètes qui vont mourir un jour” (The organization of poets who will die one day) , which aims to promote poetry everywhere and to everybody.

© Poetry International Rotterdam
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère