Geert Buelens

Buelens has an extraordinary ear for rhythm and sound and is strongly influenced by twentieth-century American poetry. As a former editor of the literary magazine Yang he translated American poets such as Bruce Andrews, Michael Palmer and Louis Zukofsky and edited a special issue of Yang on LANGUAGE-poetry. At first sight his poetry appears to be difficult, and while it can hardly be called simple, it is never uncomprehensible. Rather, it links the quest for the appropriate linguistic structure with the everyday struggle of the lyrical protagonist.
In 2005, Buelens published his second collection of poems: Verzeker u (Ensure). 
In 2008 he published Europa Europa (Europe, Europe), an essay book about the effect of the First World War on modern poetry, in which he tries to contextualise the poetics of great European poets such as Rilke, Pessoa, Majakovski and Apollinaire.

Read also the portrait Geert Buelens wrote about Paul van Ostaijen on PIW Selected Bibliography
Poetry
Het is (It is), Meulenhoff, Amsterdam, 2002
Verzeker u (Ensure), Meulenhoff/Manteau, Antwerp, 2005

Essay
Van Ostaijen tot heden: zijn invloed op de Vlaamse poëzie, Vantilt, Nijmegen, 2001
Europa, Europa, Meulenhoff/Manteau, Antwerp, 2008
Oneigenlijk gebruik - Over de betekenis van poëzie, Vantilt, Nijmegen, 2008

Literary prizes
Literary Prize for Essay of the Province of Antwerp (2003)
Lucy B. en C.W. van der Hoogt-prize (2003)
Flemish Culture Prize for Essays (2003)
ABN AMRO Bank Prize (2009)

Links
The works of Geert Buelens are published by Meulenhoff (in Dutch).

Article in Yang Literary Magazine (in Dutch).