last night
I dreamt
of a sun
so cruel
how one
can fall in love
with such a pale light
Frisian poem: Arjan Hut
Arjan Hut (Drachten, 1976) grew up in Surhuisterveen and published his first book of poems, ‘Nachtswimmers’ (Nightswimmers), in 2004. He was poet laureate of Leeuwarden from 2005-2006, World Poet for the municipality of Achtkarspelen in 2019-2020 and is currently Poet of Fryslân. Hut is editor of the magazine Moanne and teaches poetry at the Writers School. His sixth and most recent book of poems was published in 2023 with the title ‘Ien tel de ierde stil’ (People still count the earth).
Dutch translation: Jantsje Post
Jantsje Post (Harlingen, 1963) writes prose and poetry in Frisian and is a translator. Her work includes literary translations from German (such as ‘The Case of Sergeant Grischa’ by Arnold Zweig and ‘The Eighth Life (for Brilka)’ by Nino Haratischwili) and from and into Frisian, such as the Frisian translation of ‘The Spy’ by Paulo Coelho and the Dutch translation of ‘Oar plak oeare tiid’ (Different place, different time) by Jetske Bilker.
English translation: David Colmer
David Colmer (Adelaide, 1960) translates novels, poetry, and children’s literature and is the English translator for such authors as Adriaan van Dis, Gerbrand Bakker, Dimitri Verhulst and Arthur Japin. Colmer has translated poetry by Hugo Claus, Anna Enquist, Cees Nooteboom and Ramsey Nasr, amongst others. The children’s books he has worked on include those by Annie M.G. Schmidt and Paul van Loon.
Illustrator: Michiel Kloppenburg
Michiel Kloppenburg (1984) is a freelance illustrator and animator living in Jelsum. His style can best be described as colourful, playful and minimalist, and he particularly likes working on projects that are linked to sustainability and nature. He is joint founder of Motionatales, an animation studio that makes complex information understandable through animation and motion design. He is also joint founder of Level Up Coworking, a co-working space in Leeuwarden for creative freelancers.