Ester Naomi Perquin (Photo: Henk Brinkman)

Written by Stefanie van Gemert, PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at UCL.

Over the past few weeks, I got to know someone special. It sparked off as an online encounter – an email trail about translations.

Her name is Ester Naomi Perquin, and she is an award-winning Dutch poet. I was invited to translate her work for the Contemporary European Poets series.

Translating someone’s poetry is a slightly schizophrenic experience. While weighing Ester’s words and analysing her work, I felt I was peeking into her brain, aligning my thoughts with hers. I quickly realised her poems were products of literary craftsmanship: with depth and a refreshingly humorous side to them, though often heavy in subject matter.

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