| Gerrit Komrij | |
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Gerrit Komrij (1994) |
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| Born | Gerrit Jan Komrij 30 March 1944 Winterswijk, Netherlands |
| Occupation | Poet, novelist, translator, literary critic, playwright |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Period | 1968–present |
| Notable award(s) | P. C. Hooft Award (1993) |
| Partner(s) | Charles Hofman |
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www.komrij.blogspot.com |
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Gerrit Jan Komrij (born 30 March 1944 in Winterswijk, Gelderland) is a Dutch poet, novelist, translator, critic, polemic journalist and playwright. From 2000 to 2004 he was the Dutch Dichter des Vaderlands (Poet Laureate).[1]
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Gerrit Jan Komrij was born in the eastern Dutch town of Winterswijk. He soon moved to Amsterdam and began a literary career. In 1968 his first volume of poetry was published, Maagdenburgse halve bollen en andere gedichten, and in 1969 he became editor of the Bert Bakker-founded literary magazine Maatstaf.[2] In the seventies he also became a critic of television, literature, and architecture, well-feared for his colorful and sarcastic language.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Komrij and his partner Charles Hofman befriended a number of Dutch authors including Boudewijn Büch, with whom he maintained a lengthy correspondence. In the early 1980s Komrij and Hofman moved to Portugal, not long after his play Het Chemisch Huwelijk premiered in Amsterdam; he has lived in Portugal ever since.[3]
Komrij has written librettos to two operas: Symposium by Peter Schat (1994), and Melodias Estranhas by Antonio Chagas Rosa (2000).
He supplied lyrics to two collaborative ventures with the Dutch vocal ensemble Camerata Trajectina. The first was in reconstructing song texts to Dutch songs by Jacob Obrecht (2005). The second was in lyrics for the chamber choral cycle De Seven Zonden van Jeroen Bosch (The Seven Sins of Hieronymus Bosch) set to largely anonymous 16th Century tunes (2009). The theme of the Seven Sins follows the depiction in The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things a painting Hieronymus Bosch completed in 1485.
Besides being a critic of poetry and culture in general, Komrij wrote several semi-autobiographical works, including Verwoest Arcadië ('Arcadia Demolished', 1980) and Demonen ('Demons', 2003). He also authored several novels, Over de bergen ('Over the Mountains'), Dubbelster ('Double Star') and De klopgeest ('Poltergeist').
Komrij is a collector of rare and absurd books (a hobby he shared with Boudewijn Büch[3]), and has written extensively about them. Old homosexual literature, quaint 18th and 19th century poets, and ancient literature about farting are some of his more remarkable subjects. His articles and essays were collected in books such as like Verzonken boeken ('Sunk Books'), Averechts ('The Other Way') and Kakafonie ('Cacaphonia')--the latter subtitled An Encyclopedia of Shit. In 1979 Komrij published a new standard Dutch poetry anthology, De Nederlandse poëzie van de negentiende en twintigste eeuw in duizend en enige gedichten (Dutch poetry of the 19th and 20th century in 1001 poems'), which quickly became the yardstick by which poets were measured. It was soon followed by a volume of 17th and 18th century poetry, an anthology of South African poets, and an anthology of medieval poems. He also edited various other anthologies, one about mothers and one selecting poetry by Jacob Israël de Haan.
Komrij has translated from many different languages, including all of Shakespeare's plays.
His prose was recognized in 1979 when he was awarded the Busken Huet award.[4] In 1993 Komrij received the P.C. Hooft Award, the chief literary accolade in the Dutch language area, for his prose.[5] For his poetry, he won the poetry prize of the city of Amsterdam in 1970, for Alle vlees is als gras, and the Herman Gorter prize in 1982, for De os op de klokketoren.[4]
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| Preceded by New title |
Dutch Poet Laureate "Dichter des Vaderlands" 2000–2004 |
Succeeded by Simon Vinkenoog a.i. |