![the [blank] garden](https://theblankgarden.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/cropped-lucas-cranach-the-younger-6.png)
Dear Dola, Set in Amsterdam on the eve of World War II, The Tree and the Vine (2020, tr. Kristen Gehrman. Original: De thuiswacht, 1954*) is narrated…… Read more “Her compelling mouth, the scent of lavender and cigarette smoke”
Tag: The Netherlands
Dola de Jong
Dola de Jong (born Dorothea Rosalie de Jong, 10 October 1911 – 12 November 2003) was a Dutch writer. Born to a wealthy Jewish family in The…… Read more “Dola de Jong”
The alphabet of my childhood
Dear Hella, Running just beneath the nostalgic waters of The Black Lake (tr. Ina Rilke, 2012. Original: Oeroeg, 1948), there is a disturbing current of tainted innocence: at…… Read more “The alphabet of my childhood”
Hella Haasse
Hella Haasse (Hélène Serafia “Hella” Haasse, married name Hélène Serafia Lelyveld-Haasse; 2 February 1918 – 29 September 2011) was a Dutch writer. She was born in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta),…… Read more “Hella Haasse”
I was giving the glad-eye like blazes
Dear Connie, The Laws (1993, tr. Richard Huijing. De Wetten, 1991) reads like a draft of a draft: the shadow of an idea, hovering over the page…… Read more “I was giving the glad-eye like blazes”
Connie Palmen
Connie Palmen (Aldegonda Petronella Huberta Maria “Connie” Palmen, 25 November 1955) is a Dutch writer. She studied Dutch literature and philosophy. Awards Libris Prize for Jij zegt het (2016)…… Read more “Connie Palmen”
Howling out of beauty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwQq6y29YSA My awkward attempt at translating the lyrics: “Beautiful Oh well, see, the lambs are still slurping from their freshly shaven mothers And see how the young…… Read more “Howling out of beauty”
Maarten van Roozendaal
Maarten van Roozendaal (3 mei 1962 – 1 juli 2013), was a Dutch singer-songwriter. Van Roozendaal was born into a family of six in the small town…… Read more “Maarten van Roozendaal”
Migrating from one waiting room to another
“Human rights Having faith is lazy and coward. Lazy for assuming a story to be true without wanting to test it. Coward because one discards the doubt…… Read more “Migrating from one waiting room to another”
Arnon Grunberg
Arnon Grunberg (February 22, 1971) is a Dutch writer. He was born in Amsterdam to Jewish parents who emigrated from Germany after the war. When he was…… Read more “Arnon Grunberg”
it was clear as a streetcar: I am a flower
“Triumph of Love II – by Belcampo When the wind blew over the village, it also blew across the impenetrable woods, and the castle within, which was…… Read more “it was clear as a streetcar: I am a flower”
Belcampo
Belcampo (pseudonym of Herman Pieter Schönfeld Wichers, 21 Juli 1902 – 2 January 1990) is a Dutch writer. In 1933, after completing his studies in notarial law,…… Read more “Belcampo”
I am an ocean of waiting
Ebb by M. Vasalis I withdraw and wait. This is the time that won’t go amiss: Every minute turns itself into future. I am an ocean of…… Read more “I am an ocean of waiting”
M. Vasalis
M. Vasalis (pseudonym of Margaretha Droogleever Fortuyn-Leenmans, 13 February 1909– 16 October 1998) was a Dutch poet and psychiatrist. She studied medicine and anthropology at Leiden University. Poems…… Read more “M. Vasalis”
With my difficult eyes
Dear Judith, I came to you through my husband, who is a huge fan of your poetry. Some of the first Dutch poems we translated together were…… Read more “With my difficult eyes”
Judith Herzberg
Judith Frieda Lina Herzberg (born November 4, 1934 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch Jewish poet. She lives alternately in the Netherlands and Israel. She writes poems and…… Read more “Judith Herzberg”
