2 monuments of contemporary poetry

Contemporary poetry in Flanders is incredibly diverse and dynamic, but also draws on a large history. Since the death of Hugo Claus, who dominated post-war poetry in Flanders on his own, poets who started writing at the end of the sixties, have grown fully-developed oeuvres that can easily stand next to his. We would like to introduce two highly acclaimed poets that have come to the fore in the eighties and nineties and have been at the top of the Parnassus since then.

Leonard Nolens is a monumental figure in Flemish poetry. His poetry forms one of the most all-encompassing and uncompromising oeuvres in Dutch-language literature. He made his debut in 1969 with baroque, experimental poems. In the mid 1980s his work became far more sober. His spellbinding style gave way to a spoken-language tone, while continuing to encompass profound thought. A small selection of his work is available in Swedish.

Leonard Nolens is a poet who has dedicated his whole life to poetry. A life of writing has also turned into writing a life. He has always been seen as one of the most individual poets in Dutch-language poetry using the lyrical ‘I’, thus constructing a life in poetry. Later on in his career, he also started using a Zeitgeist informed ‘we’, which ultimately led to a high point in his oeuvre: the collection ‘Breach’.

Miriam Van hee debuted in 1978 with her poems about homesickness, melancholy and loneliness. To her displeasure, she was classified by the critics as neoromantic, the predominant trend in Flemish poetry at that time. Nevertheless, her poetry is not a flight from reality, as Van hee does broach realistic subjects.

It snows a great deal in the poems of Miriam Van hee: snowflakes slow the world down and blanket it in a subdued silence. Her poems are little snow machines that bring the reader to a standstill, able to reflect on their own life.

‘The Link between the Days’ was a first monographic anthology that brought together poems that were published from 1978 until 1996, when she was awarded the Prize of the Flemish Community for Poetry. Since 1996, she added four highly acclaimed collections to her oeuvre and was awarded The Prize for Mastery in 2024.