This article is based on this dutch article of Martinus Benders The Work Ethic of the Grocer’s League Someone called my post ‘rage-bait’ because I asked whether A.I. played a role in the huge number of bands I encountered through Popronde. But I didn’t say it lightly: in quite a few of those bands I…
Month: May 2025
The Great Journey Begins: A Poetic Road Trip, Family Memories, and Artful Merch by Martinus Benders
This article is based on this Dutch article of Martinus Benders Just two more days. Homemade meatloaf sandwiches, the scalding hot backseat. Don Williams on the stereo, the big holiday book on my lap. The Great Journey is about to begin. My father was a Ford man. After an initial small Daf in the late…
Poetry, Protest, and the Poetic-Military Complex: When Verse Meets State Violence
This article is based on this Dutch article by Martinus Benders A police dog bites a student protesting against genocide in the leg on the campus of Radboud University. Geert Wilders posts a declaration of love to the dog on X—and inside, the professors are tapping out their bland little essays, failing to mention what…
Incoming Wheels: From Dutch Poetry to Looping Love Songs in English
This article is based on this dutch article of Martinus Benders I used to wake up at 5:00 AM to write poetry—these days, I write songs. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been translating old songs I wrote for Kroes into English. But some tracks, like ‘De Tegenligger’, were based on songs by Townes Van…
Ranketanking, Fried Tents, and the Poetry of Americana: In Praise of Henk and the Art of Translation
This article is based on this Dutch article of Martinus Benders Poetry. I have many friends who’ve tried their hand at Americana. Denvis, Melle, Bart van der Pligt. Even that sweet and brilliant Henk Koorn from Hallo Venray—shout out if you’re reading this, Henk. But this song isn’t about you. Whenever I heard their attempts,…
Signal Flag
**Semaphore** The glass doors mouth open like disinterested gods— Monday, processed in fluorescent slices, clicks a badge against my chest, some name I once applied for like a loan. The printer heaves another truth into the tray. Outside, a woman passes with shopping bags full of need disguised as color; her children trail her like…
Daddy Was a Junkie: A Poetic Portrait of the Fentanyl Crisis in America
This article is based on this Dutch article of Martinus Benders Today, a true levenslied, a song carved straight from life. In the United States, there is a severe fentanyl crisis, and most people remain silent about it—but not Kroes. Songs, after all, must be seized from life itself, and true lyricists understand that. They…
Amanita Muscaria and Mythic Madness: Martinus Benders’ Psychedelic Literary Revolt
This article is based on this Dutch article of Martinus Benders O Kolle Tiktakörümcek (I created a cover for the ebook that’s a bit more psyborg-friendly, for whom a book must always exude utility. Diagrams throughout, neat usage, and this time a recognizable mushroom with the correct color scheme. Will it help? Will this useless…
Why I Make Ebooks in a World That Doesn’t Read Them
This article is based on this Dutch article of Martinus Benders Well, to start with the first question – mainly because I used to hate the epub format. The tech guys and girls apparently couldn’t come up with a simple conversion solution. Making an epub was always a total… mess. But look now: I get…
Goodreads in Perpetual Beta: An Open Letter to Veronica Moss on Outdated Interfaces and the Irony of Representation
This article is based on this Dutch article of Martinus Benders Dear Ms Moss, Allow me to address you informally, for a platform where a writer in 2025 still cannot change their profile photo — cannot change it! — fosters an intimacy that makes even the most torrid exchanges between Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin…