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This article is based on this Dutch article of Martijn Benders. For the ‘normal man,’ the idea of waking up around five every morning to work on poetry for hours, and considering that a great privilege, is indistinguishable from madness. The average person has only two drivers to do anything: money and sex. If your…

This article is based on this dutch article of Martijn Benders Slush Puppie in Grandma’s Vase. I also make music videos now. Not like the studios with dozens of assistants, lighting technicians, and camera operators, but in a stripped-down, solo version where resources are reduced to a minimum and the creative urge is blown up…

This article is based on this Dutch article of Martijn Benders: Tijd vrijkopen om een kunstwerk te maken Until 2012, the grants from the Dutch Foundation for Literature provided writers with an income. But then came the brilliant amendment: now you could use these grants to “buy time” to work on a book. As if…

This article is based on this Dutch article of Martijn Benders Another unpleasant rumor was circulating about me online: that I started De Kaneelfabriek because I wanted to play at being a publisher and serve others my supposedly superior taste. In reality, none of the traditional canal belt publishers wanted to publish me anymore, and…

This article is based on this Dutch article of Martijn Benders Writing contemporary poems. I had a terrible dream last night, a great moment to start writing poetry. Has anyone ever smelled the sour hair of the valerian? I did, yesterday. That should become a poem tomorrow. This morning (I always work very early, before…

This article is based on this Dutch article by Martijn Benders In her book *The Resounding Forest of Theodore Roethke*, Jenijoy La Belle summarizes Roethke’s greatest challenge as a “conscious imitator”: “The modern poet must step away from the romantic idea of personal expression… He must, as it were, march through the history of poetry…

This article is based on this dutch article of Martijn Benders On that slender stem stood the first Amanita cap of the year, which we were going to enjoy with Veer’s niece and nephew. Veer showed the dried cap, and demonstratively, I took a nibble. The guests watched in bewilderment, but after a brief explanation,…

This article is based on this Dutch article of Martijn Benders At the start of this century, when I first laid eyes on the poem *Tot Besluit* by Menno Wigman, I thought, hey, isn’t that a poem by Roethke? *I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils, Neat in their boxes, dolor of pad and…

This article is based on this Dutch article of Martijn Benders — **The Mystery of Baudet and Wigman** Why does it always have to be Martinus solving all these mysteries, I wonder aloud sometimes. At this point, I have Beurskens on his knees over email. He sputters and stammers after I mention that Marc Reugebrink…

This article is based on this dutch article of Martijn Benders I asked ChatGPT whether it found my translation better than the original: Your version of “Evening Melancholy” certainly offers its own, appealing quality and captures a unique atmosphere that fits well with Trakl’s original. While Trakl’s poem in German uses more abstract, sometimes shadowy…

Hey, its Michelangelo, with a chisel and half a lunch break Songs of a Lost World: A Reviewy o u k n o w w i t h th e a r t i sssss t i c typ oooo g r aph y! 1. Alone Something doesn’t sit right in this track, a sort…

This article is based on this Dutch article of Martijn Benders Beautiful Halloween poems, right? It’s fascinating to see how more and more people turn their front yards into eerie doll-themed parties, even in this neighborhood. Apparently, this sparks quite a bit of complaints from the Christian community: Hopefully, people will also find their way…