Thursday 27th May 2010
Awater by Martinus Nijhoff is the most important Dutch poem of the 20th century. This edition of the classic work features a novel presentation with three English translations, made at different periods, for comparison. Introduced by a leading Nijhoff specialist, it includes the Dutch text and an essay by the poet on Awater’s origins.
‘A very good Dutch poet is Nijhoff. His poem “Awater” is the poem to reckon with, one of the grandest works of poetry in this century. It’s a completely different thing. This is the future of poetry, I think, or it at least paves the way for a very interesting future.’ - Joseph Brodsky: Conversations (2003)
