Rutger Kopland
Rutger Kopland (1934-2012) is a pseudonym of R.H. van den Hoofdakker. Van den Hoofdakker is the retired psychiatrist and university lecturer, Kopland the poet - two personas who only met in Kopland’s conviction that scientific research is fundamentally no different to the process of writing a poem.
About the Author
Kopland made his debut in 1968 and has published eleven volumes of poetry, two essay collections Het mechaniek der ontroering (The Mechanics of Emotion, 1995) and Mooi maar dat is het woord niet (Beautiful But That’s Not The Word, 1998) and a collection of travel and translation notes Jonge sla in het oosten (Young Lettuces in the East, 1997).
Prizes
Kopland won numerous prizes for his poetry, including the P.C. Hooft Prize 1988, one of the Dutch-speaking world’s most important literary awards. Tot het ons loslaat (Until It Lets Us Go, 1997) was awarded the VSB Poetry Prize 1998.