Poet Gerrit Kouwenaar died on 4 September 2014 in his hometown of Amsterdam. He was 91 years old. Kouwenaar was one of the most important Dutch poets and a member of the Vijftigers, a group of 1950s experimental Dutch poets, who changed Dutch poetry forever.
Kouwenaar won numerous awards. In spring 2009, he received the Meesterschapsprijs (Mastery Award) of the Society of Dutch Literature. In 1970, he was awarded the P.C. Hooft Prize, and in 1989 he was rewarded with the Prize of Dutch Literature. His translations also met with success – in 1967 he received the Martinus Nijhoff Prize.
In 1997 Kouwenaar was awarded the VSB Poetry Prize for his collection De tijd staat open (Time is Open). One of its poems, ‘Men moet’ (One Must), has become a classic of Dutch literature:
Men moet
Men moet zijn zomers nog tellen, zijn vonnis
nog vellen, men moet zijn winter nog sneeuwen
men moet nog boodschappen doen voor het donker
de weg vraagt, zwarte kaarsen voor in de kelder
men moet de zonen nog moed inspreken, de dochters
een harnas aanmeten, ijswater koken leren
men moet de fotograaf nog de bloedplas wijzen
zijn huis ontwennen, zijn inktlint vernieuwen
men moet nog een kuil graven voor een vlinder
het ogenblik ruilen voor zijn vaders horloge -
Kouwenaar kept developing in his work until an advanced age. His collection Totaal witte kamer (Totally White Room, 2002), with poems written after the death of his wife Paula, was given an honourable mention by the VSB Poetry Prize jury:
‘This poem, the latest fruit of an oeuvre that spans more than half a century, proves that there is really only one Kouwenaar, who – true to himself, yet ever changing – has used his idiom for yet another set of impressive new poems.’
That collection also featured a poem that has become a classic:
Totaal witte kamer
Laten wij nog eenmaal de kamer wit maken
nog eenmaal de totaal witte kamer, jij, ik
dit zal geen tijd sparen, maar nog eenmaal
de kamer wit maken, nu, nooit meer later
en dat wij dan bijna het volmaakte napraten
alsof het gedrukt staat, witter dan leesbaar
dus nog eenmaal die kamer, de voor altijd totale
zoals wij er lagen, liggen, liggen blijven witter dan, samen –
Gerrit Kouwenaar was one of the founders of the Dutch Foundation for Literature. In 1958 he and Louis Lehmann, Hans Andreus, Cees Nooteboom, Simon Vinkenoog, Jan Elburg and Sybren Polet protested against the low fees they were receiving for paperback sales. This was followed in 1962 by a wider writers’ protest and a demand for the establishment of a foundation for literary authors, a pension fund and lending fees. After founding the Foundation, he was a member of various committees.
From 1998 Kouwenaar received an annual grant for his outstanding contribution to post-war Dutch poetry.
Gerrit Kouwenaar has left a lasting impression on many Dutch poets and remains an important influence on Dutch poetry.
His poems have been translated into English, Spanish, Greek, Swedish, German, French, Polish and Russian.
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