On December 10, the collection “Springtij – Poems about living with tbs” by Tsead Bruinja will be published. In the summer of 2020, Bruinja, as Poet Laureate, was invited by the Pompestichting to speak with TBS officers and their practitioners. These became candid conversations about their childhood, their life in the clinic and the problems they encounter. On the basis of these conversations Bruinja wrote texts that he describes as documentary poetry.
In “Springtij”, the people we make available to the state have their say, in their own language. People who have committed a terrible crime, but also men and women with whom we share desires, dreams and ambitions.
About Tsead Bruinja
Tsead Bruinja (1974) studied English and Frisian at the University of Groningen. He made his debut in 2000 with the Frisian poetry collection “De wizers yn it read”. In 2003, his first Dutch-language collection was published and nominated for the Jo Peters Poetry Prize. Since then he has published thirteen collections, in Dutch and Frisian. His collection “Overwoekerd” was nominated for the Ida Gerhardt Poetry Prize. In 2019 he was appointed as the seventh Poet Laureate. He wrote poems for national events for two years and acted as an ambassador for poetry.
