Guest of the ilb 2003
Remco Campert was
born in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1929. He is the son of the
journalist and poet Jan Campert, who was murdered in 1943 in the
Neuengamme concentration camp. His mother was the actress
Joekie Broedelet. Remco Campert started to write poetry at an early age
and published his first book of verse »Vogels vliegen toch« (1951) at
the age of 22; the title itself alludes to the fact that the author
experiments with new forms.
Together with Rudy Kousbroek, he founded the
magazine »Braak«, which helped lay the groundwork for the emergence of
the 50’s movement. Along with Bernd Schierbeek, Gerrit Kouwenaar, Jan
G. Elburg and Simon Vinkenoog, they brought about the most radical
change in post-war Dutch literature to date. As the publisher of
various newspapers and magazines including »Podium« and »Triade«, Remco
Campert has significantly influenced the intellectual discourse in his
country.
Characteristic of his openness and social
involvement is that, unlike other writers of his generation, he made
literature accessible to the »uninitiated«. He thus reached people who
had never read literature before and became a youth idol.
His writing varies in style and format. At first
glance his poems, novels and stories appear to be easily accessible,
but upon second glance they grow more refined and enigmatic. He
addresses the shortcomings of life in a relaxed and humorous way. With
ironic distance, Campert takes elitist rhetoric and juxtaposes it with
immediacy and directness. His work alternates between disillusionment,
philanthropy and melancholy, and in the Netherlands has earned him the
honorary title of »Dichter« (t: poet), which is also the title of the
anthology »Remco Campert – Dichter« published in 1995. Although Campert
is primarily very popular as a poet in his native country, his novels,
stories and thrice-weekly columns in the »Volkskrant« also reach a wide
audience. In his involvement with the Poetry International Festival in
Rotterdam, he played a decisive role even early on as a participant,
translator, moderator and advisor, and was later made president of the
International Advisory Board. In 1997 he co-founded the foundation
Poets of all Nations (PAN). To date, although he is considered one of
the most important representatives of Dutch poetry, only few of his
poems have been translated into German.
© international literature festival berlin
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