Alara Adilow’s poetry collection Mythen en stoplichten was declared the winner of Herman de Coninckprijs 2023 on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
Herman de Coninck was a Belgian poet, essayist, journalist, and publisher who lived from 1944 – 1997. In 2007, the Herman de Coninck Prijs (English: Prize), a Flemish literature prize for poetry for Belgian poets was set up in his honour. In the following years, they opened the prize to Flemish speakers in other countries. Some of the previous winners have been Tijl Nuyts, Alfred Schaffer, and Eva Gerlach.
For 2023, the considered works were collections published between January 1 and December 31, 2022. The jury chaired by travel stories, novels, short stories, essays, and children’s book writer Kristien Hemmerechts included doctor of linguistic psychology, literary curator and founder of Hyster-X Uschi Cop; book reviewer, editor, writer, and program maker; Mojdeh Feili; International Literature Festival Utrecht program maker Sophie Kok; as well as actor, musician, television producer, writer and illustrator Wim Opbrouck.
The jury announced the shortlist on February 21 the day on which Herman de Coninck would have turned 79. In a record-breaking precedent, four of the six were poets of African descent; they were
- Alara Adilow, Mythen en stoplichten (Prometheus)
- Babeth Fonchie Fotchind, Plooi (De Geus)
- Nisrine Mbarki, oeverloos (Pluim)
- Mustafa Stitou, Waar is het lam? (De Bezige Bij)
The winner was announced on March 11, World Poetry Day, and they gave the honour to Alara Adilow, a Dutch woman of Somali descent. In her debut collection Mythen en stoplichten (English: Myths and traffic lights), the central theme is her own transition from man to woman.
“This debut is one of fault lines, boundaries and transformations; a self-examination of queerness, gender identity and the female body in the form of sobering poems,” the jury wrote in its report. “The use of words is fresh, clear and new, and the jury is also impressed by raw and unpolished verses that enter into dialogue with sometimes surreal imagery. Idiosyncratic and sometimes even fabulous, it sounds, a fearless debut that dares to sand.”
The prize money sponsored by Klara and De Morgen is €7,500. It is made possible by Literatuur Vlaanderen.
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