Frysk dichterskollektyf
At Neetltje, RIXT poets Christa Niklewicz en Geart Tigchelaar perfomerd twice. They did so in company of musician and poet Lukas Graff. Tigchelaar read from his coming poetry volume, Ommers. Niklewicz read and sang poetry of hers. Graff accompanied both poets on his piano, and also read own poetry.
In the weekend of September 11 to 13, poets of Frisian poet pack and island poets met on the island Skylge/Terschelling, at the folk high school Skylgeralân.
There, they met and formed groups of two or three to explore the island and their poetry together. During the exchange, the creativity and inspiration were endless, because of the good company and the beautiful surroundings.
On Saturday evening, under a starry night in the amphitheatre de Rûnte, at the folk high school, the poets read their work made during the day. Poems were written collectively or indivually, but always inspired by the good company.
The poets performed in their respective groups.
The first to read were Ilse Vos, Jolanda Gooiker en Simon Oosting, with a relay of the day.
The second performance was that of André Looijenga, Ina Schroders-Zeeders, and Simen de Jong.
Third were Janna van der Meer and Carla van der Zwaag, with their collective poem “Duet or duel”
Fourth came Nienke Zorgdrager, Tryntsje van der Veer, and Dirk Geerdink, with their performance called “Eindland/Einlân” (Endland).
Last but not least was the closure with “Skylge” made by poets Syds Wiersma, Ruud Knier, and Yva Hokwerda.
On Sunday, it was time to leave the island again for the RIXT poets, though we hope to meet each other again, and poetry of the weekend will be published in due time.
From the 1st of August to the 7th, the Frisian Poets Pack RIXT convened at the Writer’s Ark of Rink van der Velde near the village of De Feanhoop. Every day a duo came here to work on a new verse for a collective poem.
The poet of the month, Cornelis van der Wal, had the honour of writing the first verse, and started the poem with the line ‘The lake doesn’t take the storm’ from the novel De nacht fan Belse madam by Rink van der Velde. This Line of Rink thus set the tone and direction for the poem and the week itself.
The regional broadcaster Omrop Fryslân called in every day to hear that day’s new verse. Thus, listeners of the afternoon radio programs ‘De middei fan Fryslân’, ‘Sneon yn Fryslân’ and ‘Snein yn Fryslân’ were able to follow the evolution of the poem. The week was capped off with a performance of the complete poem in the former haunt of Rink van der Velde – Café Marktzicht in Drachten – on the 8th of August.
The participating poets were:
Cornelis van der Wal
Janneke Spoelstra
Rein de Lange
Kate Schlingemann
Edwin de Groot
Anne Heegstra
Simen de Jong
Tialda Hoogeveen
Carla van der Zwaag
Ypie Bakker
Tsjisse Hettema
Syds Wiersma
Dirk Geerdink
Yva Hokwarda
Jan Kooistra
The storm The lake doesn’t take the storm and you won’t answer me back. Above the both of us drift clouds that want to cry. Underneath us the peat fire, your eyes wander off. I’m asking the reeds for guidance. Thunder rumbles in the distance. Perhaps I should take my leave of you. Let the lake for what it is and might a clean request hide in valleys far away where thunder grumbles in another tongue from the one I let myself be scared by. Do I want to exorcise the fire while it’s anchored within my being, or does the heat crackle the stump in twain? Do you still love me I asked you your silence is the answer that unsettles my soul the lightning forces a break line and splits the lake clinically into chaos. Sky fans out every which way. I no longer want to run in circles on still water like a pond skater waiting for a wave from you I leave everything behind. Cleansed it’s clear to me. The lake doesn’t take the storm but you should take me as I am. If only you’d taken me. You termagant, I push off our water soldiers. A damselfly stirs the empyrean skin across the plunge. The sound of the quant laughs. I’ve seen us. I saw your eyes no longer asking, I saw the lakes that won’t take. Once more I write light from stillness, know that I’ll drift with black swans.
Watch the video for the poem ‘The Storm’ and an insight of the week at the Ark.
Translation by Trevor Scarse
Video made by Geart Tigchelaar
The Poet of the Month September is Peter Vermaat
You can read the Frisian poems on RIXT and an English translation of one poem will be published here.
From the 11th until the 13th of September, poets pack RIXT organizes their first writers’ weekend at the folk high school, Folkshegeskoalle Skylgeralân, on the island of Skylge/Terschelling. That weekend, poets of RIXT and from the island will meet for an exchange and will work together on new poems which they will bring on stage with a final performance.
The weekend is the result of the RIXT poets’ wish to connect, to dive into poetry en to write poetry together and read on stage.
Not too long ago, the poets pack also wrote poetry together, with the well received Rigel fan Rink. A week long, RIXT poets worked together on the relay poem, ‘De bui’. Similar to this, nine poets of RIXT and six poets from the island will create poetry together. They will do so with inspiration from each other and from the surroundings. Edwin de Groot, chair of the poets pack, will moderate the weekend.
The results of Waailân will be read on stage in the collective performance on Saturday, September 12th. This performance will take place at the Folkshegeskoalle at 20:30 o’clock. Entry is free, but there is a limited number of seats due to the safety measures.
Afterwards, the poems and a video of the performance will be published on the website of RIXT, www.rixt.frl to make the poetry of Waailân available to all.
The writers’ weekend Waailân: dichters op it eilân is supported by the Province of Fryslân, Tresoar and the Folkshegeskoalle Skylgeralân.
What: Waailân: dichters op it Eilân
When: Saturday, September 12th, 20:30 o’clock
Where: Folkshegeskoalle Schylgeralân
Badwei Hoarne 11
8896 KC Hoarne Skylge
Want to attend the performance? Reserve at pr@rixt.frl
This autumn, several writing courses will commence at Tresoar and we are very happy that among them is the first poetry course organized by Poet Pack RIXT!
The poetry course is set up due to the demand and wished at the Poet Pack RIXT and will reflect the diversity of poetry. For this reason, not one course person will lead the course, but five. These are Kate Schlingemann, Edwin de Groot, Dien L. de Boer, Geart Tigchelaar and Tryntsje van der Veer.
These five skilful RIXT poets will discuss several topics, such as poetic elements, metaphors, clichés, visual poetry and presentation.
The course will be held in collaboration with Tresoar from the end of September until the end of November. Due to the Covid-19 precautions there has been set a maximum number of participants, and for this reason, the available places are completely taken by RIXT-poets.
There will be other courses at Tresoar as well during the autumn 2020.