LUT DE BLOCK (2)

Writing a poem is like putting together a Rubrick's cube. You have all the colors—words and images—but you have to get them in the right place. And there is only one possibility. After a long time of tinkering, you find the solution, you have the aha-moment. That's it. But with a poem, it sometimes takes months before you find that small word that suddenly makes the poem harmonious. Finished. Not in the sense of a perfect poem, but of a successful attempt. Each poem is an attempt to express something accurately.





When I can't get to my feelings, writing is an emergency solution when all other means fail. And that is not easy. Sometimes you are confronted with that helplessness to be able to express yourself. And in addition with the limitations of language. Music is much more direct in that regard. If writing without words were possible, I would still prefer to write poems without words.





Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

PATRICK CORNILLIE (3)

Although I am not 100% in favor of performing, a poem should always be able to be read aloud. It must be melodious. Sound is a bit like the color of the poem and I work hard on it: alliterations, sound repetitions, end rhymes, internal rhymes... They are not there just like that, automatically. Finding the right sound in the right place is very labor-intensive. A poem is made, shaved, polished. Poetry is handmade; it takes a lot of time. Sometimes sounds are also chosen because of their emotional value. An 'o' sound, for example, can express monotony or melancholy.




Only poetry can put a stop to reality, capture things. There is no way to get a grip on reality. Therefore, a poet must create that himself. Sometimes I have the impression that I am always late everywhere, always chasing after reality. Only afterwards do you realize: this and that has happened. If you write something down, you may get a better handle on it.




Flemish is much richer than the standard language. It is also the task of the poet to create neologisms, to be creative with language, to color the language, for example by tearing words from their context, deforming fixed expressions for their own use. A poet must be a bit of an alchemist.





Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

TOM VAN DEEL

In the long run, you realize that poetry cannot simply be the writing down of memories in verse lines. Poetry is much more a matter of depicting, in a concentrated way, deeper things.




Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

JAN ELBURG

Comprehensibility of poetry is not everything, but intelligibility is.




Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

SALVATORE QUASIMODO

There’s a reason poets often say, ‘Poetry saved my life,’ for often the blank page is the only one listening to the soul’s suffering, the only one registering the story completely, the only one receiving all softly and without condemnation.




Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

RENÉ CHAR

The poem is the fulfillment of love, of love's desire that remained desire.




Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

LEO HERBERGHS (3)

The poet must address the unknown. Almost everything is the unknown. What we know, we do not know. And he must magnify the mystery rather than diminish it. And even the simplest poem adds something to the unknown. The poem is the poet's religion.




Someone who writes a poem is the master of his life, just like the person who reads it. The poet has found words that illuminate his or her existence. He or she has created a work of linguistic art from feelings and experiences.




When a child learns to write verses, they are often incredibly original. The child has a fresh approach to language. The lines flow playfully from the pen. It is the words that transport the child to the world of poetry. The words make the child a poet. Language gives the child access to experiences and feelings unknown outside of the poem.





Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl