Univ. Amsterdam prof. Nachoem Wijnberg Pc Hooft-prijs for life’s work

University of Amsterdam professor and poet Nachoem Wijnberg won the PC Hooft-prijs 2018 for his life's work, the organization announced on Tuesday. The 56-year-old poet will receive the prize at a ceremony in the Literature Museum in The Hague on May 24th, ANP reports.

"Reading Wijnberg is stepping into an astute way of thinking with a language that is flawless and dangerous: everywhere a trap can be set, through which what is just read suddenly appears in a different light", the jury said about Wijnberg's poetry. "Characteristic of all poems is the diversity with which the poet views his world. From close by and always also at a distance, so that the highly personal is pressing and sometimes of a great tragedy - but always from afar, so that it becomes individually human, and of great, enormous importance."

Wijnberg debuted in 1989 with De simulatie van de schepping, which was followed by other collections and novels. In 2004 he won the Jan Campertprijs for Eerst dit dan dat. In 2008 he won the Ida Gerhardt Poetry Prize for Liedjies.

The P.C. Hooft-prijs, named for poet P.C. Hooft (1581-1647), is one of the most important literary prizes in the Netherlands. The prize is awarded annually, alternately for prose, essays and poetry. The 2018 prize was devoted to poetry. Last year Bas Heijne won this prize.