Gerrit Kouwenaar
Gerrit Kouwenaar (1923 - 2014) was first published in clandestine publications during World War Two. After the war he earned a living as a translator (a.o. Sartre, Dürrenmatt and Brecht) and journalist. Together with a.o. Lucebert and Hugo Claus he was a leading member of the 50s Movement and edited the influential anthology Vijf 5tigers. His work has been collected in Gedichten 1948-1978 (1978) and in the new volume helder maar grijzer: gedichten 1978-1996 (Clear but Greyer, 1998). His latest two volumes een geur van verbrande veren (a smell of burnt feathers, 1991) and de tijd staat open (time is wide open, 1996) have won his universal critical acclaim as well as the important VSB Poetry Prize. This autumn sees the publication of his new collection een glas om te breken (a glass to break). His poetry and translations have won numerous important prizes, including the prestigious Dutch Literature Prize (Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren, 1989).