20 May 2023. Published today is Jeroen Dera’s review ‘no fence stops the ants’, an elaborate dicussion on the twenty-fifth poem ‘sneak inside’, selected from ecologica by Rozalie Hirs. He writes, among other things:
“The fascinating thing about Hirs’ poetry is that it takes its readers by the hand (‘Sneak inside, follow the ants!’), but at the same time dislocates them. This happens not just through the imagery, but also through the grammar. Ambiguity runs rampant in these verses without punctuation. ” (Jeroen Dera, De Standaard)
“In this respect, the words of Hirs, who is also active as a composer, are like music here: the chords flow rhythmically into each other, without caring about the limits of a sentence.” (Jeroen Dera, De Standaard)
“In the ‘ecologica’ of poetry, Hirs traces the ecological confusion without detracting from the profound beauty she experiences in nature.” (Jeroen Dera, De Standaard)
Read the full article in the literary supplement De Letteren of the Belgian daily De Standaard.