Description
“Koenraad Kuiper’s poems are animated by a frugal, astringent, ironic intelligence that reminds me of when the word ‘wit’ was used to describe or even name the verse of the Metaphysical poets. However, these poems are not historical pastiche, but are unmistakably contemporary, as in the several formal variations of his ‘Benedictine Sonnets’.
“Most of the poems belong in sequences and play with variations on themes, a cumulative strategy that complements and extends their laconic humour. From time to time a translation is included, in Dutch mostly but occasionally in German — sometimes the English reads as though it is the translated version, a deliberate, playful oddness. Erudite, witty, economical, and elegantly composed, these poems are a pleasure to read piecemeal but even more from beginning to end as a complete, sustained immersion.”
Ian Wedde
Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellow
About the Author
Koenraad Kuiper is a linguist and poet who was emigrated to New Zealand from the Netherlands in 1951. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Canterbury where he served on the University Council and as Dean of Arts and Head of School. He is the author or editor of fifteen books and over a hundred research papers and book chapters. His four volumes of poetry are: Signs of Life (1981: Wai-te-ata Press), Mikrokosmos, (1990: One Eyed Press), Timepieces (1999: Hazard Press) and Bounty (2008: University of Canterbury Press). With Sarah Hart he has published a book of translations of the Dutch poet Frank Koenegracht, Early Snow (2019: Spuyten Duyvil).
He is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington, with doctorates from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and the University of Canterbury. He has held two Fulbright Fellowships in the USA, a NZ-China Fellowship in the People’s Republic of China and been a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences. He was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney for six years. He is currently President of the Friends of Te Papa and a trustee of The Dutch Connection Trust.
Specifications
ISBN: 978-1-99-110312-3
Pages: 192
Dimensions: 210mm x 138mm
Format: Soft cover
Author: Koenraad Kuiper
Published: 7 June 2023
Reviews
“Koenraad Kuiper’s poems are animated by a frugal, astringent, ironic intelligence that reminds me of when the word ‘wit’ was used to describe or even name the verse of the Metaphysical poets. However, these poems are not historical pastiche, but are unmistakably contemporary, as in the several formal variations of his ‘Benedictine Sonnets’.
“Most of the poems belong in sequences and play with variations on themes, a cumulative strategy that complements and extends their laconic humour. From time to time a translation is included, in Dutch mostly but occasionally in German — sometimes the English reads as though it is the translated version, a deliberate, playful oddness. Erudite, witty, economical, and elegantly composed, these poems are a pleasure to read piecemeal but even more from beginning to end as a complete, sustained immersion.”
Ian Wedde
Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellow
