‘A few years back’, says the Coordinator of Performing Arts Tineke Grootenboer. ‘We had already started in Enschede with the Poetry Marathon. A City Poet was selected each year in Enschede and Hengelo,’. ‘For years, we’ve wanted to have a Campus Poet to “make a face” to the outside world of the university and campus. It was always a question of where to get the funding, and how we were going to structure the competition. You could consider the campus as a village between these two cities that few people really know about.’
In 2011, the University of Twente will celebrate its 50th anniversary, a historical moment that is the ideal time to launch the competition. This year’s theme is ‘the campus’, and inspired by the fact the UT is the only existing university campus in the Netherlands, affording people a natural setting to study, learn, teach and live.
Peter Timmerman, 37, a UT alumnus and moderator for the Stadium Generale lecture series, says, ‘We hope to get many submissions. It would be brilliant if it turns out that there are hidden talents in the labs, classrooms and student houses. The physical campus is in and of itself very poetic. My favorite place is the Patio Complex (Matenweg) that Herman Haan built for students—pure poetry but then made from stones and concrete.’
Organizers say all styles of poetry are allowed― from text message to sonnet― but no simple ‘the cat sat on the mat’ rhymes. For those who want to practice, improve or learn poetry writing skills, a course will be offered in poetry writing with six sessions on Wednesday evenings from 8pm to 10pm. Local Dutch poet and UT alumnus, Moes Wagenaar, in cooperation with poet Catherine Ann Lombard, will be conducting sessions.
The three-member jury consists of Menno van Duren, the UT Nieuws managing editor, Jasper Henderson, a former Thomas rap publisher, and Catherine Ann Lombard, English teacher at the TCP Language Centre and professional writer. They will make the initial pre-selection from all the submissions and the final decision will be announced on 24 January.
In addition to presenting and reciting three to four original poems in public through the course of the year, the winner of the poetry competition will be asked to write at least four more poems and five free choice poems of their choice. According to organizers and jury members, ‘the Campus Poet will receive professional, tailor-made guidance and his/her poems will be translated.’
The fruits of the poetry competition’s labors will be eventually found in a book format with a collection of the top 10 finalist’s poems published in two languages (Dutch and English). On National Poetry Day, 27 January, the winning poem will be published also in the UT Nieuws magazine.
Aspiring poets and unknown bards alike can send in their poetry submissions to [email protected] by the deadline of Wednesday, 1 December, stating in the subject box ‘Campus poet 2011.’ To register for poetry writing courses contact [email protected]
