De Gjalp has declared seven entrants as winners this year. The prize winners will be called onto the stage on Wednesday evening, June 17, where the winning poems will be recited and some of the ideas for a performance will be explained. More details about De Gjalp 2027 will also be revealed that evening.
Under the name De Gjalp, Ensafh, de Moanne, and RIXT presented two open calls for writers and poets last March. Creators could submit a poem or an idea for a festival production. The submitted poems were judged anonymously by the jury. The theme was ‘It Waad/Het Wad’, as De Gjalp sought collaboration with a number of festivals in the Wadden Sea region this year. This resulted in seven winners: five for Gjalp Poetry and two for Gjalp Production. In that last category, an encouragement prize was also awarded to six students from the Skriuwersfakskoalle, who had jointly submitted an idea for a play script.
The winners each receive €500 for their submission. The winning poems of the Gjalp Poëzie will be published in Ensafh and/or de Moanne, and the poets will have the opportunity to develop their winning poem into a series, with which they can perform at a Wadden festival. For the Gjalp Production, there is a budget for further development and guidance of the winners in the run-up to a festival, such as the Dudeljo festival in Lauwersoog and Meet me at the Lighthouse on Schiermonnikoog. In the case of the six students, it concerns an encouragement prize; they will receive guidance from a skilled editor for the further development of their text.
The winners will immediately be given a stage on Wednesday evening, June 17, at Podium Explore. The winning poems will be recited, and the winners of the ideas for a festival production will speak about their concept. That evening will also look ahead to the third edition of the Gjalp in 2027, for which collaboration is being sought with Podium Explore and the Popfabryk. Everyone is cordially invited to attend the festive evening on June 17. Doors open at 19:00, the program starts at 19:30 and will be presented by Karen Bies.
The winners
Hannes Schievink (resident of Amsterdam) and Myrte Marije Veenbaas (Amsterdam) have been declared winners in the ‘production’ category. They are being offered a writer’s residency at a location in the Wadden Sea area to further develop their idea. Students from the Skriuwersfakskoalle Jeltsje Abma, Mea Feenstra, Janneke Heslinga, Marleen van Veenen, Durk Veenstra, and Sybma van’t Zet wrote a story featuring six characters. The jury awarded an encouragement prize for this entry. The winners in the ‘poetry’ category are Remco Kuiper (Goutum), Ypie Haitsma (Achlum), Anders Rozendal (Dokkum), Gabriëlle Terpstra (Franeker), and Joël Huitema (Leeuwarden). Both juries consisted of editors from Ensafh, de Moanne, and RIXT.
The Gjalp is an initiative of literary magazine Ensafh, general cultural opinion magazine de Moanne, and poets’ collective RIXT, and has been awarded annually since 2025. The Gjalp literally means: the (out)cry. The Gjalp is made possible in part by the Province of Fryslân.
Picture: Lucas Kemper
