Mischa Andriessen

This is why some critics have labelled Andriessen’s work ‘misleading’, or in one case, ‘an enormous question mark’. But you seldom look in vain for the leitmotif in his poetry. Andriessen sketches a world where nothing can be pinned down – hence openness of interpretation – except the destruction which keeps overtaking his characters. The poet poses the universal and existential question of how humans can stand their ground amid so much decay. Here he propagates the idea that we can construct a personal universe within the limitations of our finite and futile existence, enabling us - still - to elicit some meaning. ‘It is our damned fate not to accept / that this is it’, Andriessen writes in his debut Uitzien met D [Facing with D]. His work as a poet is a realisation of this ambition: Andriessen’s poetry attempts to go beyond the one-dimensional nature of everyday life without denying the human angst of trying to cling to what is known.

‘Every destination is a lie’ is what Andriessen records in his collection Huisverraad [House treason]. His readers, too, can apply this creed: there is no ultimate route to the quintessence of his poems. You can tackle the special friendship in Uitzien met D starting from the gospel according to Matthew or track down the connection between Andriessen’s Dwalmgasten [Vagrance] and Ovid’s Metamorphoses; but all things considered, there will always be something which escapes your interpretive framework. This poetry is an outstanding celebration of the interaction between poet, reader and text.
Bibliography
Uitzien met D, De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 2008
Huisverraad, De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 2012
Dwalmgasten, De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 2016
Winterlaken, De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 2019