Ingmar Heytze

'Ingmar Heytze is single-handedly The Beatles of Dutch poetry,' Dutch author and poet Joost Zwagerman once wrote. Heytze himself describes his poetry as 'poems for people who don't like poetry'. And yet, his collections have sold tens of thousands of copies, his poems adorn many facades in the Netherlands and his occasional poems - for instance as the first city poet of Utrecht - are etched in the memory of many. With this impressive body of work, Ingmar Heytze is appearing for the first time at Poetry International this year. In his poems he knows, like no other, how to capture deep human incidents, emotions and encounters in a warm, recognizable way; after the last line you always feel just that little bit more seen and understood. In his recently published twelfth (!) collection of poems, 'Met wat geluk', Heytze condenses his life and fascinations into poetry in which everyone can find themselves. Besides being a poet, Heytze is also a writer, anthologist, columnist, performer and presenter; with his band Asfaltfeeën he has performed from student houses to Lowlands and everything in between.