The Hunger in Plain View:Selected Poems
AUTHOR
Ester Naomi Perquin
TRANSLATOR
David Colmer
As a poet, Perquin is able to get into the minds of others. Whether they are the delinquents presented to us in Cell Inspections or the nameless, strange, but extremely recognizable figures in her other work. The reader always gets the feeling that she is being addressed by a person of flesh and blood. Because Perquin often uses the second-person singular, the idea of direct communication is further reinforced. Who is this you”? Is it the reader or the writer?
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David Colmer's translations include Advance Payment by Wijnberg and Even Now, poems by Hugo Claus.
Ester Naomi Perquin was named (the ideal) Poet Laureate of the Netherlands in early 2017. With an open mind and an enthusiastic narrative drive, Perquin carefully scrutinises everything that seems normal; in no-nonsense language, she poses questions and provides answers that expose the absurdity of the everyday. Wonder echoes through her every poem, wonder that makes you pause to consider the situation even as a reader. Perquin worked for years as a prison guard to pay for her writing education. She made her debut in 2007 with Servetten halfstok; for her collection Cell Inspections (2012), a series of portraits from her jailer's past, she won the VSB Poetry Prize in 2013. In her latest collection Ongevraagd advies (2022), Perquin contemplates the state of the country in rhythmic, sound-rich lines in a remarkably jaunty manner, with poems in skilfully misleading language and words that conceal or reassuringly take away ugliness for a moment.