Marije Langelaar wins the 2018 Awater Poetry Prize for her poetry collection Vonkt and Joost Baars wins the 2018 VSB Poetry Prize for his Binnenplaats. What a poetry week!
Rozalie Hirs’ poetry collection further particulars (2017) was also a contender for the 2018 Awater Poetry Prize. Thanks to Edwin Fagel and Joost Baars for their recommendation. See above for the full list of contenders (press release, Jan. 11, 2018).
“There are few collections that I devour immediately upon publication. This is just such a collection. It seems all deconstruction, but Rozalie Hirs is a the poet of natality, of the most radical ‘yes’ I know. And verdere bijzonderheden is simply more excellent than her previous ones. What an oeuvre that will be.” (Joost Baars, Awater, Winter 2018)
“I love Hirs’ playful, musical yet meaningful poetry. In this collection, for all its formal rigor, her poems are particularly sparkling and exciting.” (Edwin Fagel, Awater, Winter 2018)