The poetry collection Ien tel de ierde stil by Arjan Hut has gone into its second print run. First published in 2023, the collection was written during the period when Hut served as Wâlddichter (poet) of the municipality of Achtkarspelen – a time of COVID lockdowns, face masks and curfews.
The poems came to life in various places: at home on the Delistraat, at Tresoar, on the train from Leeuwarden to Buitenpost, on Rink van der Velde’s Skriuwersarkje (writer’s houseboat) and at a campsite in Kollumerpomp. Time runs as a common thread through the collection. There is a desire to manipulate time, to slow it down, sometimes even to bring it to a standstill. Time itself behaves strangely too. Old summers are kept in large barns. At night the sun shines and resembles a beehive. In the polder darkness, the Milky Way leaks over the terps.
Readers praise the powerful imagery, emotional depth and surprising accessibility of the collection. Albertina Soepboer wrote in the Leeuwarder Courant: ‘Yn in skitterende styl, dêr’t perspektyf en tiid oan ien tried wei ferspringe, observearret de dichter skerp.’
Ien tel de ierde stil is Arjan Hut’s sixth poetry collection. Since 2023, he has served as Dichter fan Fryslân (Poet of Friesland), championing poetry, education and literary projects across the province.
