Gerrit Kouwenaar

About Gerrit Kouwenaar
Kouwenaar's poetry is usually described as a kind of murder. In his poems Kouwenaar tries to cancel the denotative character of words. 'I cut the throat of a word.'

Clandestine publications
Gerrit Kouwenaar was first published in clandestine publications during World War Two. After the war he earned a living as a translator (a.o. Sartre, Dürrenmatt and Brecht) and journalist. Together with a.o. Lucebert and Hugo Claus he was a leading member of the 50s Movement and edited the influential anthology Vijf 5tigers.