‘Michael’- Tiny rant about a movie I flat out refuse to go and see

Children are self centered creatures by unfinished design. Children can be so, so cruel. Ask any bullied kid? Ask me. Children lie all the fucking time. Stone cold too, no matter the amount of evidence piled up against them? Many a parent with empty cookie jars can attest to this. And don’t even get me started on all the ‘playing dokter’ I know I did as a kid. I’m sure I was the only one. Ever. So when I hear Michael Jackson fans play the ‘innocent like a child - just a big kid’ card when wanting to explain his very intimate… friendships with pre-teen boys, I can’t help but get bit… twitchy.

You were an adult, Michael. A broken one, sure. The greatest entertainer probably ever, yes. Genius, most certainly. But, being broken is a reason, not an excuse? In case you might have wanted to make excuses during your life time. Which you never did, because in your obsessive ‘friendships’ with these children you were completely self centered. And heartbreakingly cruel. Although we might never know beyond doubt wether or not you ever got physical with them, the way you chose your favorite, drowned that unfortunate kid with obscene amounts of attention, gifts and the madness of your fame, only to take all of that away again just like that when they seem to reach a certain age is all the fucking emotional abuse I needed to learn about. Period. And I certainly don’t need to go and see your fucking ‘Greatest Hits’ flick if I want to learn much more about your personal life? Or your creative process? … No! Fuck that! … Am I TRULY the only one that feels The Family/production company releasing the statement that they couldn’t include scenes about the allegations BECAUSE of clauses in lawsuits filed by the very now man that made those allegations is one last giant fuck you to those guys??? Guess I am! Seeing that the movie is a monstrous success. Again, if I wanted to listen to your greatest hits I’d pull out the cd’s I have, after having playing the albums until they broke, after listening to the tapes until those broke, or the ‘Moonwalker’ movie and all the videoclips I must have seen a million times? Me, I don’t even have to be one or the other when it comes to you, Michael. I know full well the millions of devotees you still have will keep the family business soaring for at least a decade or 3. And it appears it’s either completely pure or ‘He the devil!’ when it comes to opinions about you. There is no middle ground. I grew up utterly dumb struck by your genius. Must have been, what, 10, 11? What I would have done to meet you…! Spend time with you. Imagine that coming true… I know your music and brilliant concerts by heart. A heart you broke, completely, so fuck you very much you broken, sad… human being. Cheers.

…Yeah.

The Children’s Poetry Archive - Listen to the world’s best children’s poetry read out loud

Click on the image to go to the website of this amazing initiative!

Inspiring Young Learners

“Poetry doesn't just live in books - it lives in the sounds that words make. When we read poems out loud we breathe life into them and we can picture them in our imagination. The Children’s Poetry Archive is a place where you can listen to poems read out loud. We have poems read by the poets who wrote them as well as poems which other people have recorded for us. We think everyone has a favourite poem, it’s just that they haven’t heard it out loud yet. We hope you find your favourite here.

Poetry was spoken out loud a long time before people started to write it down but we didn’t have any way to make recordings of it. This is why we can’t listen to Shakespeare or Wordsworth now, however much we might like to. The Children’s Poetry Archive has promised to record as many poets and poems as we can and to put those recordings here so you can explore them.”

“Our archives have lots of poetry for you to explore and discover. You can get started by looking for your favourite poem using the search bar below, or by having a look through our list of poets, collections and interviews.” Click on the image to start exploring!

Teach the world's best poetry

“Poetry is best enjoyed and taught by hearing it out loud and now that so many children are learning from home, we’ve brought together some resources to help you inspire your class about the importance of poetry and the fun to be had in exploring it.

We gathered resources here to help you teach poetry. There are activities for all key stages, built around Poetry Archive recordings and offering lively, engaging ways of working with poetry.

We've also included links to some of our favourite organisations who also provide support for teaching poetry so you should find resources to answer all your questions.”

Click on the image to go to the teaching page!

Support the Archive!

“Poetry read in the unique voice of the author is unlike anything else. Please share your love of poetry and help us continue to grow our collections and keeping them safe for the future. From a £1 donation to an annual membership, you can help us record more poets and put poetry into more schools for everyone to learn from and enjoy. We don't get public funding support, and we can only continue with your help. By becoming a member or making a donation, you are keeping the Archive's poetry available and shared online. Every £1 is valuable to us, so however you can help us, thank you. Your support will speak  volumes!”

Click on the image to dig a little and support! Cheers :)

Going Dutchtube!, nr. 3 (Nivelan reads 5 Dutch poems + their translations)

I’ve been scouring the internet for Dutch poetry, translated into English, to maybe showcase here for months and months now, and have been loving every second of it. That includes YouTube, obviously, and boys oh boys, there are some beauties out there! Plus, not unimportant, linking and then highlighting such a video here on Double Dutch magazine is A LOT easier copyright wise? So much so that we at Double Dutch magazine decided on a separate segment: Going Dutchtube!, for which we’ll pick one of those videos at a time and give ‘em some much deserved extra fondling. Doing this also enables us to include poets and translators we admire but who are notoriously hard to get in touch with, for example, or, again, whose poetry is a real pain in the butt to get the rights to. Win-win, eh? We sure think so. This time we’ll be linking to an older reading by the Dutch poet Nivelan (? link to his website has been dead for years) who’s translation of works by J.C. Bloem, Ingmar Heytze, Jean Pierre Rawie and himself more than deserves a second life right here:

Nivelan reads 'November' (1931) by JC Bloem, his own 'Koud Rijm' (2002), 'Solliciteren' (1993) by Ingmar Heytze, then his own 'Koude Thee' (1994) and 'Ritueel' (1989) by Jean Pierre Rawie. Full text (of the translations only) in the text under the video on Youtube!

Was publishing 54 books to tell the ‘Horus Heresy’ saga needed? - on Double Dutch magazine!

For those of you who follow me and Double Dutch magazine a bit closer it’s no secret that I’m a huge fantasy/sci-fi fan. The Games Workshop black library range in particular tickles more than a few of my fancies? What must have started out as a risky experimental side hustle to sell more miniatures (a.k.a. expand the lore) has grown into a full on and seriously profitable business model. With, unsurprisingly, a lot of meh novels, but truth also be told, quite a couple of seriously engrossing ones! If you’re into dark sci-fi bolter porn that is, obviously. So, answering the question posted in the title of this feature from that perspective therefore is easy: yes. Me being one of those nerds who got fully caught up in it :)

As you can see in the image above it took me a little over… 2 years to read the entire series? I won't even begin to try and surmise. Fuck that. This is one of those occasions where being an online only magazine shows its advantages:

I sure love Arbitor Ian’s videos. They’re as short as possible without loosing heart and focus on what matters most for both of us: the personal stories that did very much help to shape the outcome of this galaxy spanning drama. Those smaller ‘episodes’ I’ll call ‘em were my favorite reads from the series by far. … Yeah. Couldn’t bring yourself to sit through the first 5 minutes of those 40, could you, eh? Lol. Here’s the gist:

You’re welcome. And, looking at it this way the answer’s probably no? Depends, doesn’t it? Spending 600 euro’s and 2 years is only a lot if fully lost is where one doesn’t want/need to be from time to time. Being fortunate enough to have the money and love to read. I am more prone than others to years of extensive side tracking perhaps, sure, but once a junkie, always a junkie, eh? At least I held on to my old fashioned Gen-X attention span, thank The Emperor. Which also helped when they released the ‘Siege of Terra’ follow-up series in the years since. And take a wild guess who just HAD to read those too..

My AOS Orc Army at one fully painted point :)

Is it the best thing I’ve ever read? No. But it doesn’t need to be. It’s escapism on the highest level. The best thing I’ve ever read must be

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Guest feature! Lucy Olsman interviews poet, writer, spoken-word artist, beatboxer and best friend Jonathan Sijl

Jonathan Sijl, born in Zwolle, the Netherlands, is a twenty-five year old poet, writer, spoken-word artist, beatboxer, and my best friend. We met in university six years ago, when we both began our bachelor studies in English Language and Culture in Groningen. It was the height of Covid, and most of our classes were online. But amidst the turmoil of curfews and forced isolation, we decided to begin a running group with a few others. This quickly became a wine-drinking group. Throughout the years, we’ve made many friends, and lost a good few too. But Jonathan and I always stuck together. And it is my pleasure to introduce him to you.

Hi Jonathan! Please describe yourself as a poet in three words, and explain them.

I had to think about this one! Initially, my answer was authentic, open, and honest, but I’m not sure if that covers it. “Up to interpretation” might be a better fit. I am a firm believer of the concept of ignoring the author when reading a text. I apply the same idea of “up to interpretation” to my own work. Whoever hears me read a poem aloud, whoever consumes my work, its meaning is up to their own interpretation.

Why would you say you’re a firm believer in ignoring the author?

During our masters we were taught both ways: to take into account the author of the work, and to forget about them. In my case, I enjoy hearing someone’s own interpretations. I can really appreciate it when someone connects to my work without knowing anything about my life.

Can you describe what went on in your mind when inspiration for this poem (The Sandwich and the Sidewalk) struck you? How did you come up with the idea of connecting the Christian God with a homeless person?

I occasionally chat with homeless people in the city (Groningen). There’s a few I recognize as well. This particular one I’ve talked to a lot over the past couple of years. It’s interesting how people tend to look over homeless people as part of a city. You have your benches, you have your parks, and your homeless people as part of the cityscape. But at one point, these people were also children that probably went to school, had a family, and they had a whole history that led them to this moment. Whereas my history led to this moment as well, where I buy this person a sandwich.

In a way, God, for believers of the Christian faith, also becomes an inherent part of their landscape, something invisible that is always there. In this sense, a link can be made between God and homeless people. It also reminded me of a plot point of the movie Rise of the Guardians, where you have all these mythological characters like Jack Frost, Santa Clause, the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny, etc. only exist as visible and tangible beings, as long as people believe in them. Their power comes from faith itself. If they were forgotten, they would become invisible. In retrospect, I think it's a similar idea between me and God. It's been a few years since I've last called myself a Christian, and my perspective on God changed a lot over the years. In the case of this poem, I enjoyed mixing up various perspectives, and ways that I've felt over the years.

What type of Christian were you?

An ashamed one. No, just kidding. I was a mix of evangelical/pentecostal. This is a type of modern Christian that believes in a very personal connection with God, and tries to see God as an all-loving being. They also believe in spiritual gifts from the holy spirit, like the power of healing through prayer, the power of prophecy, or speaking in tongues (the language of Angels, as I understood it).

Speaking in tongues?

This is the idea that you begin to speak in a certain way after the holy spirit has ‘touched’ you. It was one of the reasons I stayed on board with my faith for so long, as I volunteered in my church. After the services, people would get prayed for. The pastor would lay their hands on a person and pray, which could be quite intense. At times, these prayers would even result in the recipient of prayer 'collapsing in the holy spirit' which meant they would physically collapse after the Holy Spirit touched them. It would be my job to catch the person and lower them gently to the ground, as they seemed to truly be affected by an intensely spiritual experience.

What was the moment where you decided to step away from faith?

There was always a constant divide between teenage-me as a growing boy, and a boy who was trying to be a good Christian. Romantic feelings, and all that stuff, felt like it was a sin. Discussing it, and just about anything to do with it, already felt sinful to me, so I would avoid talking about it, or feeling it at all. My family has always been a small, tight-knit group, consisting of my mum, my brother, and me, after my dad passed away when I was five. We would firmly believe in having a strong foundation together through our faith, and I felt that anything that deviated from that could potentially destabilise the bond of our family as a whole.

I reached a point in my first year of my studies, when I realised I tried too hard, for too long, to combine what I believed in my faith, and what I learned outside of it. There were a lot of factors involved that I haven't mentioned yet, but it nonetheless led to my realization that I could no longer call myself a Christian.

The final stanza, to me, has an undertone of anger or revenge. What does it mean to you?

I didn’t feel angry writing it. It was more a sense of disappointment and pity. In this stanza, God is just another person that wants to be loved, that wants affection. You look at this figure that you’ve been dreading encountering for a long time, and it’s a massive anticlimax. All the stress and the struggling with faith were for nothing in the end, because God, here, is also just a guy.

The final few stanzas could be read in an angry way. When performing this poem as spoken-word, the lines

How did you fall so far?

Was your throne,

Your horse,

Your holiness

So high?

can be made to sound angry. But it’s good to remember that these words occur in a moment of tenderness, during a humbling experience. “He shook my hand, and I offered him a hug. /I held him for a moment, and I asked him...” It’s a moment of compassion. It can feel embarrassing for a lot of people to ask for help, or food. And this homeless man has to ask for it every day.

What message are you hoping to bring across to your readers?

In both life, and poetry: Try to stay open minded. Life is a lot more fun and interesting when you look at things from different perspectives. Listen to people and what they have to say. Ask questions. Oftentimes, the questions people ask say a lot more than answers.

The Forgotten Sisters Behind ‘Happy Birthday to You’

Thank you, Tim, and Goddesses rest your soul xxx

It’s mine, today :) 52… Because I’ve got an at home dinner and movie date with my love I’ll all but copy-paste a beautiful article by Kelly B. Gormly I found about the origins of the iconic ‘Happy Birthday to You’ tune today and return to my 50 euro bottle of Sake birthday gift. Cheers!

For the past century, people of all ages have sung a four-line jingle to mark their loved ones’ birthdays. But few know the names of the siblings behind this ubiquitous tune: Mildred Jane Hill, a renowned musician and songwriter, and Patty Smith Hill, a pioneer in early childhood education.

The surprisingly tangled history of “Happy Birthday to You”—described by Guinness World Records as the most frequently sung English-language song—begins in 1893, when the Hill sisters co-wrote and published a tune called “Good Morning to All.” Their goal, Patty later recalled, was to craft songs that expressed “those words and emotions and ideas fitted to the limited musical ability of a young child.”

Patty tested out the song, set to the same melody as “Happy Birthday,” on her kindergarten students in Louisville, Kentucky. The lyrics went like this: “Good morning to you / Good morning to you / Good morning, dear children / Good morning to all.”

How and when did these lines morph into “Happy Birthday”? Theories abound, but an element of the unknown persists. In Louisville, locals often trace the shift to the Little Loomhouse, a cabin that now houses a nonprofit fiber arts organization.

“The story goes that one or both of the sisters were at a birthday party at the summer cabin, and that’s where the lyrics were changed,” says Mick Sullivan, a curator at Louisville’s Frazier History Museum, which features a panel on the Hill sisters in its “Cool Kentucky” exhibition. “One of the points of the song was that you could just change it. Instead of ‘Good Morning to All,’ if it was Friday, they might say, ‘Good Friday to You.’”

Sullivan adds, “Children change lyrics all the time.” Consider, for instance, a popular parody of the birthday song: “Happy Birthday to you / You live in a zoo / You look like a monkey, / and you smell like one, too!”

A Louisville house where the Hill sisters lived in their youth Courtesy of the Happy Birthday Circle

“If a history of music in Kentucky were being written, a large portion should be devoted to the music of the Negro in our state,” Mildred wrote in a late 19th-century essay. “The old Negroes, who alone know this music, are fast dying out, and it is sad that some effort is not made to secure it before it is too late.”

Patty, meanwhile, was one of the most important education reformers in the United States, serving as the first president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and a professor at Columbia University. She designed and marketed teaching tools called Patty Hill blocks, which kindergarteners used to build large play structures.

“What are you going to accomplish academically as a kindergartner?” Sullivan asks. The progressive philosophy “was about being with other kids and sharing that experience, [learning] cooperation and things that required multiple hands to do. That [approach] was really ahead of its time when you think about it.”

Mildred died in 1916 at age 56, long before her birthday composition’s meteoric rise to fame. Patty died in 1946 at age 78. The Hill sisters are buried near each other at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

In the 1920s, variations of “Happy Birthday,” set to the tune of “Good Morning to All,” appeared in several songbooks, including a 1924 one edited by Robert H. Coleman. As the song gained traction, even appearing in movies and aBroadway musical, Mildred and Patty’s youngest sister, Jessica Mateer Hill, decided to push back against unregulated use of the tune. In 1935, Jessica authorized the Clayton F. Summy Company, which had published the original Song Stories for the Kindergarten, to release a new copyrighted arrangement of “Happy Birthday.”

Decades of copyright disputes and lawsuits followed, with Warner Chappell Music—the music publisher that inherited the claim—fighting to retain the rights to the lucrative song. In 2016, a judge approved a settlementthat officially put “Happy Birthday” in the public domain.

In Louisville, the Happy Birthday Circle has raised $100,000 of the $8.7 million needed to build a public tribute to the Hill sisters at Waterfront Park. The project’s target groundbreaking date is 2026. The planned site—also called the Happy Birthday Circle—would feature a pavilion, a memorial and a picnic grove. It would be located under the Big Four Bridge pedestrian walkway, which connects Louisville to Jeffersonville, Indiana.

More than one million people cross the bridge annually, making it “a really great place to memorialize the Hill sisters, who have never been claimed by Louisville as the authors of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song,” says Rightmyer, who currently chairs the Happy Birthday Circle’s capital campaign. “We ask people in Louisville, ‘Do you know who wrote the “Happy Birthday” song?’ Maybe nine out of ten of them don’t. It’s the most sung song in the world.”

Read the entire article here?

Our field trip to the Mauritshuis!

Where Sander, Jasper and Frans went to see Jericho by Anselm Kiefer for themselves last December, My love and I (Benne) went on a field trip of our own to the Mauritshuis in March of this year :) We got 2 exhibitions for the price of one! Here’s some highlights from both:

By:

Click on the image to go to the Frans Hals Museum!

By:

Click on the image to go to an exhibition about the life and work of Frans Hals in the Lakenhal Museum!

By:

Click on the image to go to an exhibition of him at the Rijksmuseum!

Click here for Vermeer’s most famous work and here please for a gorgeous little Rembrandt (both spoilers for our upcoming third issue)!

With pieces by but not limited to:

Is a:

Click on the image for an informative video about the Ba bird!

By:

Click on the image to go to Pablo’s Wiki page!

Could only be by:

Click on the image to go to a website dedicated to Da Vinci!

By:

Click on the image to learn a lot more about her!

By:

Click on the image for an exhibition of her work at the Tate Modern!

I did not ask for permission!

A filthy rich experience indeed, eh? We sure felt it was. Thanks my love, for enriching me. + Happy to share it! Cheers :)

R.I.P. Tim O’Connor, the American ‘hitch-hiking Poet’ (23-02-1952/19-02-2026)

Another in memoriam? … Yeah. I really, REALLY wish I didn’t have to. Last week I learned that one of the most colorful and friendly people that I got to know when first venturing out with my poetry, doing so locally and in my early 20s, had died. Tim O’Connor was his name. The self proclaimed  ‘hitch-hiking poet’. According to the beautiful man himself he was an original Irish American Folksinger / Bluesman. Born in Chicago, grew up in Hollyweird. Son of Hollyweird royalty. Tim spent an eight year period of his life hitchhiking over 300,000 miles in 26 countries before ending up in my home town of Vlaardingen, The Netherlands (of all fucking places!) in 1999 after a solo crossing of the North Atlantic Ocean in his sail boat “Theanna”

She (Theanna) was a gift from his father the actor and according to Tim she was a friend that saved tim’s life. He vouched never to sell her, saying his father always dreamed of solo sailing oceans, but he was the one in the family crazy enough to actually do it. The first month of his stay in our little country he crashed at Erna Lohmann’s, a local he’d met in London on a train earlier. Erna describes him as we all got to know him: witty, creative and utterly stubborn. So much so he refused to learn Dutch and calling himself untouchable. That fiercly independant attitude no doubt has its origins in his youth. A big part of which he stayed at a correctional facility for troubled youngsters. A period in his life he would go on to write several books about. And eventhough Erna and he broke up, he stayed in Vlaardingen for the rest of his life, meeting his life partner soon after the split.

Tim the musician

Here’s another one:

Ok, ok, just 1 more!

O'Connor has three songs in the feature film "Dead Calm". A high seas chiller thriller, starring Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane. He’d go on and perform to his hearts content. And then some? By the end he’d released no less than 7 cd’s and 3 DVD’s.

‘Run over by love’

11 original songs. Featuring the three songs from the movie "Dead Calm”

‘Drink or die’

“DRINK OR DIE” The Barstool Blues Night, In Delft April 3rd 2008. Tim O'Connor and Marcellino (electric lead guitar) 9 songs

Click here to visit Tim O’connor’s Youtube channel while you still can!

Tim the Writer

All-in-all Tim’s written 10 books about his youth and further mad adventures. He said his songs and stories go together like a hot dog and a bun.

Tim the memories

I used to work at a coffeeshop (the dutch kind, yeah) in Vlaardingen for 10 years (2006-2015). Tim was a customer off and on. Again, when sitting at my bar Tim was friendly and had a quiet demeaner about him, despite his signature hat and confident on-stage energy. We talked from time to time. Wouldn’t say we were friends, not that, but I liked him. A lot. Many, many other people did as well. I remember him at a jam session one time, at the venue ‘De Hommel’, where his performance easily attracted the most attention, no mather how high the volume during the rest of the evening. Looked like he hadn’t even tried… I guess that’s how I’ll remember him. Effordlesly talented and always kind. Rest in peace, Tim, please? You fucking deserve to!

The Brothers Lionheart (how judging a public reading contest for kids led to this trip down exquisitely horrifying memories)

On the 11th of February of this year I had the absolute pleasure and honor to help judge a local public reading contest for kids in the Library of Dordrecht city, alongside fellow judges Wilma Verhoeven & Ilse van Donkelaar. It was part of the National public reading contest for kids and the winner will go on and compete in the regionals, so the pressure was certainly on! So, so many nervous little faces… It was our luck then, that we could agree on our favorite pretty quickly. His way of getting the story across appealed to us (tone, tempo, emotional delivery) and he managed to pull us right in. Congratulations, Abdullah! You read at half the tempo all the others did. That helped. A lot.

A special shout out tot the crew of the library for the exceptional care and love you put into organizing this event! ALMOST perfect :)

One of the criteria we had to judge was if the specific part of their favorite book the contestants chose to read was pivotal to the story or not. And to their credit, most of them had clearly taken their time to find a passage that fit said criteria. We felt for a dragon almost drowning, learned that Harry Potter was a natural on the broomstick and how a pre-teen influencer finally got the better of her bitchy rival for example. A divers bunch of plot points indeed. As the afternoon went on, though, I couldn’t help but starting to feel a bit… Like I… was missing something? The stakes had been high all around, check, sure, but…

Know what I mean?

… Yeah. You know what I mean.

This says a lot about me too, I know, and the kinds of stories I’ve been drawn to from a very early age. I have no knowledge about 99.999 % of children’s books storylines from the last 3 and a half decades whatsoever but feel safe in guessing the 11 excerpts we enjoyed in the library are a cross section of the above mentioned. And honestly, that makes me just the tiniest bit of sad. I know I’m very much sounding my age now, but maybe it’s a sign of the times. No? We were asked to choose 1 winner. The rest would collectively come in second. + Please no constructive criticism afterwards. Only praise. … Enfin. It got me sentimental too, and for a very specific reason at that!   

 I remember laying in our backyard garden, must have been no older than 9, 10 at the most, and my first ever out of body experience, right then and there, from getting sucked into a story so fully the world around me just… disappeared? Must have read ‘De Gebroeders Leeuwenhart’ (The Brothers Lionheart) by Astrid Lindgren at least a dozen times in those formative, highly susceptible years and it’s safe to say it is my favorite children’s book. If you haven’t read it, please do? And why, you ask?

Disease, death, tyranny, betrayal, and rebellion! This is the O.G. of fantasy for the very young. George R.R. Martin waited a very long time before he killed of one of his main characters, by comparison? And like with Martin, death is all around during the remainder of the story, with (spoiler warning:) the traitor Jossi, Hubert, Mattias, the tyrant Tengil, the dragon Katla and the two brothers themselves for a second time at the end. Again, it had me hooked from the first page onwards. This is not a tale for the faint of heart. It is written to teach about loss, grief, betrayal, but at the same time contrasts these expertly with platonic love, loyalty, sacrifice, hope, courage, and pacifism. An emotional journey I wish every child could and would undertake. Especially while young. In adulthood not everybody is going to end in second place. Books should be a safe space to get utterly devastated in. Do this to your own kids? Some experiences in childhood WILL define you, and this should be one of them. A true masterclass. Go and get it at your local bookstore, please? Cheers!

RECIT (a network of European literary translation centres offering residencies for translators and organizing events)

RECIT is a network of European literary translation centres offering residencies for translators and organizing events bringing together writers, translators & audiences.

Their network currently links 18 organizations across 16 countries in Europe. Members comprise of translation residencies providing opportunities for literary translators to live and work on a translation project, professional development programs and events with audiences.

HISTORY

Initially established as a European network of Colleges of literary translators in the beginning of the 1990s, RECIT evolves into European Network of Literary Translator Centers and appears as such for the first time in an international event in September-October 2000 at the First European meetings of literary translators in Sarajevo.

With focus on strengthening the network of translators, RECIT facilitates residence programs for literary translators in Europe which had affirmed as a vital necessity in today’s cultural world.

Click on the image for a list of all the residencies!

Member benefits

• Connect with peers and become part of a European community of translation residencies;

• Learn from experienced managers and programmers, and share your knowledge;

• Get access to information and contacts in the countries of the network;

• Visit different members’ residencies during the annual General Assembly;

• Get information on funding and other opportunities;

• Promote your centre Europe-wide via the network website and members’ channels;

• Participate in discussion groups on specific topics (such as translation trainings or organizing digital events) with other members;

• Raise the visibility and reputation of your centre.

Click on the image for their Current opportunities!

Membership requirements and conditions

Present and future members of RECIT should be in a position to offer literary translators the possibility of a creative residency under good conditions of residence, work and meetings with other translators and people from the literary field. These centres should also offer, within the limits of their means and their environment, a public program of meetings around literary translation and/or training courses for literary translators. It is recommendable that member-residencies maintain a library at their premises and/or ensure residents access to libraries.

The eligibility of new members will be assessed by the General Assembly in accordance with all these criteria.

The annual membership fee is currently 250 euro per organization. Any adjustments of the size of the fee are decided upon by the General Assembly.

Members fee supports the work of the network, including promotion and management as well as the network’s contribution to the annual GA.

Want to get in touch as a translator looking to apply for a stay? Contact the recidency of your choosing! Cheers :)

In memoriam: the rich, creative life of Artist Jan de Winter(August 5th, 1939 – October 17th, 2022)

Second things first:

Jan de Winter was a Dutch sculptor, glazier and painter. De Winter was born in Vlaardingen where he lived his whole life. The story goes that during his birth a marching band could be heard playing outside. This might have had something to do with him being born on the same day as Princess Irene, but since there’s almost nobody alive left to tell me no, I say they were there especially for him? In his younger years he worked as a glazier at a company in Schiedam (gebroeders Henderickx), attending evening courses at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam until 1962. He later said he’d learned more working as a glazier than during his whole time the art academy.

De Winter is best known for his leaded windows, paintings and being an abstract sculptor. He was an avid violin player as well. In this article someone’s telling how you could often hear him playing his favorite classical pieces when you walked past their (wife Joke, two sons Frans and Martin and his) house in de Landstraat. Many of his artworks are/were visible in the public domain. One of his best-known works is leaded window 'Vuur, water en energie' (translated: Fire, water and energy).

“Vuur, water en energie”

The ornament was designed in 1970 for the Gemeentelijk Energie- en Waterbedrijf (GEWB) (translated: Municipal Energy and Water Company). After the demolition of the building a school director was able to save the artwork. It is since 2007 mounted above the main entrance of the Groen van Prinstererlyceum. A selection of others:

·       Vogelvlucht (1969), Fredrik Hendriklaan in Vlaardingen

·       Glas- en koperreliëf Vuur, Water en Energie (19??), Accentcollege Rotterdamseweg in Vlaardingen - moved in 2007

·       Twee polen (1971), pond at the Frederik Hendriklaan in Vlaardingen

·       Metaalreliëf Compositie (1974), Liesveldviaduct in Vlaardingen

·       Metaalplastiek Doelman (1974), Meidoornstraat in Vlaardingen

·       Mozaïek en twee glas-in-loodramen (1975), Christian school Kethel, Vlaardingseweg in Schiedam

·       Dubbel Figuur (1984), Columbusstraat in Vlaardingen

·       Vizier (1996), Vikingbank in Vlaardingen

·       Glas-in-loodramen, Hospital in Ede

·       Glaswand, Social services in Delft

·       Pegasus, Vlaardingen

·       Energie, garden museum Maassluis

·       Naamloos uit 1963, simular to "Vogelvlucht" from 1969, but vertical and smaller, NLW Groep Venray

“Twee polen”

“Energie”

“Vogelvlucht”

Ancient mythology was an essential inspiration for a lot of his work. Visit his page on the RKD (Netherlands Institute For Art History) website for even more photo’s? de Winter died in his house in Vlaardingen on 17 October 2022, at the age of 83 years old.

A small piece, in glass, made for the grave of one Jaap Pietersen, titled: ‘Sun, sea, wind and water’

“Vermurail” 1972

During the memorial service his sisters and sons remembered him as always having been a creative and adventurous spirit. How he would perform puppet shows on winter evenings as a boy, to which he would invite his nieces, nephews and all the neighborhood kids. And that it had been his father who instilled in him his love for music, and for playing instruments.
“Jan was a creative brother, who was always busy painting, drawing, making mosaics and music. The sleeping room he shared with his brother Aad and Klaas looked like a true atelier,” his sister Gerda remembered. His wife and he had been extremely proud of their two sons for following in his footsteps; Martin de Winter as a violinist and Frans de Winter as an artist.

A temporary mural design by Mr. de Winter (1990s)

And first things second because

this ‘in memoriam’ is personal. Very. Frans de Winter and I have been friends for over 3 decades at this point, and it is an honor for me to be able to help showcase his father’s brilliant work to a broader, international audience in this little way. I’ll share some of those personal memories about Mr. Jan de Winter to tell you why I feel this way:

Mr. de Winter as a purist. One of the first performances I ever did was reciting my poetry to a piano piece by Chopin, played live by Frans, during an open mic session in restaurant ‘De Planken Op’. Must have been… 1997? I remember de Winter sr. was torn about that one. Secretly proud, I imagine, yes, but equally AND openly as appalled that we had dared to add to such a genius piece of music :)

Jan as a host: when I would come over to their house, to practice said performance, or later, to pick Frans up to go out or something, he and Joke would sit me down and pour me a big glass of red wine, and before I knew what was happening a second… He and Joke have always made me feel more than welcome there, if not a little drunk after my unavoidable third.

The artist as a dad: when Frans and I went on working vacation to Les Contes, a spiritual bread and breakfast my aunt and uncle ran in the French Pyrenees back in 2000, Mr. de Winter insisted he’d drive us to the international Bus stop in Rotterdam, from where we would take said bus to France… Truly a lovingly bumpy and to be completely honest pretty scary ride to remember!

And finally, his atelier. Full on mesmerizing. Filled to the brink with papers, drawings, art supplies, piles of different pieces of glass, giant art tools like a cutting table, ehm, soldering equipment, stacks of his lithographs, paintings, his violin, and all of this must have appeared like a complete chaos to most, but you could just… feel that everything was EXACTLY where he needed it to be…

So. Yeah. Thank you for these, Mr. de Winter. Jan de Winter. Rest in peace, please.

‘Nuff said

Black Bough Poetry Christmas-Winter 2026 Anthology (poetry submission opportunity!)

Following on from their six previous Christmas-winter editions, Black Bough Poetry will be publishing a new, seventh volume for Christmas 2026! The editorial team are Matthew M C Smith and new guest sub-editor, Paul Short.

They welcome poems on all cultural and folk traditions around this time of year and everything to do with the season (Diwali, solstice, Hannukah, Mari Lwyd, Christmas, your childhood, memories, etc.).

The submission period when they will accept your work is Wed 28th January to Sunday 1st Feb 2026. Poems before or after this date won't be read.

The team is looking for imagistic, suggestive poems, following the idea of 'less is more'. They  publish vivid poems that avoid cliché and have subtlety. They rarely publish rhyming poetry. 

Usual submission guidelines:

a) Poets are invited to submit three short poems, max 120 words., each These must be previously unpublished. No cribbing, plagiarism or use of AI. On the naughty list, ten year ban.

If you have bought their 2025 Christmas anthology, you can submit up to five poems. Please attach a photo of your book and you can submit up to five.

b) Please send poems in Garamond font, size 11, single spaced, within the submission window. They welcome bilingual versions of the same poem (eg. Welsh and English versions). 

c) They prefer punctuated poems. Please embolden your titles.

d) Please send  a short biography (up to 25 words) in the body of the e-mail and your poems by Microsoft Word attachment. Social media handles too.

e) Special e-mail for this edition is winterbough@outlook.com This e-mail only.

Read the rest of the guidelines right here! I (Benne) have submitted 2 poems. Join me, with up to 3? Cheers!

Twitter: @blackboughpoems      Fb: BlackBoughpoetry    Instagram/ Threads: Black Bough poetry

Also on Bluesky

Puzzling Poetry (This addictive game helps players to understand poetry by solving puzzles)

For the poet and the reader, a poem is a kind of word puzzle. In the ‘Puzzling Poetry’ game, verses by a range of Dutch and Flemish poets make up the playing field. Players have to find the locations of words, the connections between them, and their rhythm. As they do, in a way, they rewrite the poems!

Studio Louter developed the app with the Dutch poet Lucas Hirsch in response to an open call for literary games issued by the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the Creative Industries Fund NL and Gamefonds. “Playing with words unexpectedly leads to a new, focused way of reading,” the selection committee said.

Suzanne Meeuwissen, senior policy officer at the Foundation for Literature, stated that the collaboration between games and literature is ‘relevant and exciting,’ especially given the technological developments. “The literature takes place outside of the book through technology, and focuses on a new and younger (reading) audience. It also enriches the process for game developers, as the literary scenarios and storylines add a new and often times surprising layer to a game.”

‘Puzzling Poetry’ is a game in which the player is presented with deconstructed poems by Lucas Hirsch and other poets, with as end-goal the recreation of these poems. Next to the meaning of the words, the challenge is to pick up on rhythm and graphical relativity. “Playing with words leads to an unexpected, concentrated way of reading,” according to the selection committee.

In October of 2016, Puzzling Poetry got presented at Buchmesse in Frankfurt. Versions are now available in several languages, and Studio Louter has developed a special edition for children, ‘Puzzling Poetry Treasure Chest’. Download ‘Puzzling Poetry’ here: iOS 

Credits!

Content Design
Studio Louter & Lucas Hirsch

Interactive Media Production
Studio Louter

With the support of
Nederlands Letterenfonds, Stimuleringsfonds voor de Creatieve Industrie, Gamefonds, Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, De Arbeiderspers, De Bezige Bij, Polis

Poems
Lucas Hirsch
Miriam Van hee
Ruth Lasters
Remco Campert

About ‘BACKLIT’ by Liz Robbins (and how this 2025 RATTLE Chapbook Prize Winner bruised a poetry hang-up of mine)

Rattle organizes the largest and most prestigious annual chapbook poetry prize there is. Period. By quite a margin, too. Submitting a manuscript comes with a yearlong subscription to the printed zine, 4 issues in total, and included with every issue is one of those winning chapbooks. 10000+ people get a copy this way. … Yeah. Madness. I’ve entered my manuscript this and last year (duh!) and as a result read through a couple of those winners. Out of genuine interest, sure, but just as much on the lookout for what made these volumes stand out to the judges to be honest? How these poets sold themselves, and their work… So, when I read that this specific poet, Liz Robbins, interviewed several sex-workers and had based the entire volume on their stories, I felt… cheated? This wasn’t fair… You can’t do that. Not unless you’ve had to… stay afloat that way yourself. Bet SHE hadn’t. You write about what YOU know. There’s unwritten rules and all? Couldn’t possibly really feel… personal, this. I started reading the first poem and must admit I gloated. Tricks. All tricks. Too… explanatory, while not really piercing skin. Got pleasantly high on being right, then wanted to perpetuate said high so I kept on reading:

Okay. … Damn. That one did hit home. Hard. How’s there no choice at all. Not really? Family, however dysfunctional, or even destructive, is everything. And we CAN trust our family to be the first to screw us up! Surely, though, they couldn’t continue to all be this good, could they? Spoiler: they don’t. Not ALL of them, but, a bit like within a family, there’s usually a dim one, or the opposite brainiac, an over-bearing presence or one that doesn’t care enough, and when you’re particularly unlucky someone that loves any excuse to ‘toughen you up’? Usually this occurs under the guise of love, but sometimes not even that:

I believe these 2 poems alone justify the entire chapbook, and it winning said poetry prize. It’s hyper personal, and yet equally as… detached. And maybe, just in this case, the poet not going through what she writes about herself actually helped with getting to this level, I mean, the things we do for love and to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror, eh? It’s dirty work, for sure, but work that needs doing none the less. Better learn to survive! Better learn to hide those weak-spots as good as you can. As you must. For allowing yourself to come across as vulnerable is dangerous, as so many of these girls (and boys) know all too well. Hence the sarcasm. All they can do is hope that they can keep accessing those hidden parts of themselves when they’re alone. To be able to remind themselves these feelings exist at all…

I’m still of the opinion that the best poetry comes from personal experience, and like I said, there are quite a few poems in there that do miss the mark, for me at least. Those written in 3rd person, for example, miss the heart wrenching detachment I was talking about earlier, making the exceptions to this formerly unshakable rule of mine even more incredible. And me fucking jealous. Couldn’t write them like that myself if I dared to... And I don’t. For more about the other two winners of the 2025 Rattle chapbook competition, follow this link? Cheers.

Artists take risks for all of us. ARC (Artists at Risk Connection) supports at-risk artists and defends artistic freedom!

Their Mission

ARC works to protect artists and cultural workers at risk due to their creative expression, often tied to their identities or roles within their communities. By providing vital resources and support, ARC helps them navigate challenges such as persecution, censorship, harassment, threats, and violence from both state and non-state actors—whether targeted for their art or their broader impact on cultural, social, and political issues.

Founded in 2017, ARC was incubated under PEN America, the U.S. chapter of PEN International. ARC is now an independent organization, officially registered in France as an association under French law (Loi 1901) since October 2024, and as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the US since early 2025.

Who they support

Artists

ARC’s definition of “artist” is inclusive, encompassing those who work across any creative field or medium, including visual artists, musicians, cartoonists, filmmakers, performance artists, dancers, writers, and more.

Cultural workers

“Cultural workers” include those who work within the cultural or creative sectors, contributing to the production, management, or promotion of culture and the arts.

Safety guide for artists

(The Safety Guide for Artists explores topics such as defining and understanding risk, preparing for threats, fortifying digital safety, documenting persecution, finding assistance, and recovering from trauma.)

Creative expression is a universal right that artists use to entertain, relate, speak out, expose, and encourage dialogue. But when others, especially those with political, economic, or social power, feel challenged or threatened by this, they may try to harm or silence artists. ARC strives to protect and empower these at-risk artists to work securely.

Stand with Artists Under Threat!

Around the world, artists are censored, harassed, imprisoned, and attacked simply for expressing ideas or for who they are. When artists are silenced, we all lose voices essential to a freer, more just society.

Your contributions ensure artists at risk are not left to face these threats alone. It enables ARC to deliver timely, life-saving support and to strengthen the resources, networks, and infrastructure that help artists stay safe and continue their creative work. All donations provide unrestricted support for ARC’s mission and core operations.

Please donate right here! Thank you.

How I managed to blame Jim Morrison’s poetry for having to grow up

Last week I finally began to write this feature about the poetry of Jim Morrison. Mostly because I’m a magazine’s parent now and that zine needs to be spoon fed content on a regular basis to stay alive, and hopefully even thrive. Priorities, he? + I’ve always been a gigantic fan, so, loving feeder that I also am, I went online and found a (as rebelliously illegal) link to his Lost Writings part 1. Which got me all riled up, and to be honest, quite sentimental too?

Some background

In 1995 I broke up with my first girlfriend in the worst possible way. She did not see it coming, and it broke her heart. I broke her heart, not being able to explain to myself (let alone to her) why, and instead of trying to then figure that out + maybe start working through some of the shit that I’ve been carrying with me my whole life, I, like so, so many other disturbed 20-something-or-others turned to rigorous self-medicating… And poetry. Made completely new friends, who shared my lust for (often drug-fueled) self-expression and we started to submerge ourselves in any and all music, poetry and art we deemed worthy of our truly amazing powers of observation…, like binging ‘The Wall’ for weeks on end. On one of these evenings (must have been 1996) Gino introduced me to The Doors. Blew my fucking mind right then and there. We started making freak tapes, incorporating ‘An American Prayer’ into those wherever we could and must have watched the movie  more times than we did Apocalypse Now (which is saying a lot). What really got to me, though, was Jim’s poetry. The sheer… freedom of it was intoxicating, making it just as irresistible as the weed and hasjies had become. And soon after that about as necessary as well, helping me shape (and therefor look at) myself in ways I could live with...

From an interview in a 1998 issue of Barflyer magazine about our (Gino, Sander and I) very first poetry exhibition: ‘There are plans to record a cd in the style of Jim Morrison’s “An American Prayer” … Benne (who bears a resemblance to the Doors singer)…’

Skip to 25+ years later

Needless to say, it played a rather huge role during those re-formative years, and when I started putting together what I wanted to become a true tribute, a full on 12 course feast of recognition and praise I… couldn’t? I read through it wanting nothing more, unable to believe what I had just read, or rather, hadn’t, so read through it again. Scouring for the signs of brilliance that had once captivated me to no end… Still nothing. And again…  What the fuck? First all warm fuzzy from thinking about a misty but friend filled past, and now this. At which point I became real life like emotional because

I find most of it sucks balls now?

I’m not talking about the music, or the lyrics in combination with that incredible music. As a front man and performer, he was in a league of his own, true enough. Brilliant. Genius. Haunting. Haunted. Me and millions like me wanted to BE him, kidding ourselves that we could fake a fraction of the presence Jim commanded on stage. So, I tried yet AGAIN, and my hardest to like this one for example…:

… I mean, sorry, but what the fuck even IS that? And so cocky, so bloody sure of himself… Jim’s intuitive, free form associational way of writing rubs me COMPLETELY the wrong way now… Somehow. Getting riled up again…! Here’s another doozy:

Why does this infuriate me so goddamn much! Lazy! Throw your first thought on paper and call it poetry why don’t you! Or wait, this fucking one:

… Sod this.

After having to put it aside for a few days to cool off

I had a good talk with my wife yesterday. About this piece. During which I gave her every reason as to why I’m so affected by all of this? I’d come prepared this time. Newly discovered and therefor profusely bleeding generational gap, Herman van Veen albums featuring lyrics by Rob Chrispijn because craftmanship is key and me growing into that philosophy myself over the decades, and quite a few dismissals of poems of his an sich, using any and all tools I had learned studying Writing For Performance. I made my case. It was a very solid case. Showing her different articles and discussions about this very topic, why they matter and where I stand in relation to those expertly put together pieces and opinions. She listened, smiled, totally agreed (!) and then added a few thoughts to the mix herself… Conclusion: I am angry mainly because I eventually DID have to grow up? It’s resentment, is all. Pure and simple. Thanks, my love. So, there you go!

Fucker.

Going Dutchtube!, nr. 2 (Vrouwkje Tuinman reads her poem ‘Iemand die ik liever mis’/‘Someone I would rather go without’ in Dutch & English)

I’ve been scouring the internet for Dutch poetry, translated into English, to maybe showcase here for a couple of months now, and have been loving every second of it. That includes YouTube, obviously, and boys oh boys, there are some beauties out there! Plus, not unimportant, linking and then highlighting such a video here on Double Dutch magazine is A LOT easier copyright wise? So much so that we at Double Dutch magazine decided to start a whole new segment: Going Dutchtube!, for which we’ll pick one of those videos at a time and give ‘em some much deserved extra fondling. Doing this also enables us to include poets and translators we admire but who are notoriously hard to get in touch with, for example, or, again, whose poetry is a real pain in the butt to get the rights to. Win-win, eh? We sure think so. This time we’ll be linking to a reading by leading Dutch poet Vrouwkje Tuinman, after a Loose Muse show at The Farrago Poetry Cafe on Wednesday, 9th May 2012 in London. Technically a bit shaky but an excellent poem! Filmed and edited by John Paul O'Neill.

Why I’ll never come face to face with lyricist/poet/writer Rob Chrispijn!

Answer: never meet your heroes. Period. It really IS that simple. And my greatest hero this man most certainly is. Having been stoned for 15+ years, and zoning out to his brilliant lyrics being sung by Herman van Veen on most evenings during that smoke filled period in my life will do that for you. I know the albums on which they collaborated by heart. Making this a ‘feature’ article containing very few words, + me about his biggest fan ever from a respectable distance. Have been for decades now, which suits me just fine? The few times I’ve asked him if he wanted to publish a poem in a magazine I edited in the past, he’s always been nothing but friendly and willing. Even writing me a personal letter in 2002, which I still cherish. Some people I idolize, and some I just blatantly dismiss. Sue me. Idolizing this specific lyricist just makes the world a bit more beautiful? Obviously I have and (spoiler!) will use every opportunity to mention him/showcase his work here on Double Dutch, adding a few extra English language links mentioning mr. Rob Chrispijn to the interwebs every time while doing so. Oh, and this is what made me want to write this tiny piece now:

a few days ago a friend/lover from waaaay back when sent me this pic (thank you!) from the Wintertuin festival edition 2025’s brochure. She had invited Mr. Chrispijn to my official poetry debut party in 2005, held at the the same venue. I’d forgotten that! Further reminding me about:

me reading Mr. Chrispijn’s ‘Te hooi en te gras’ at the 2006 Wintertuin festival. Full circle indeed because here’s another Spoiler for our issue nr. 2 

Cheers :)

ZOEGLOSSIA - a Community for POETS with Disabilities

About Zoeglossia

Zoeglossia is a literary organization seeking to pioneer a new, inclusive space for poets with disabilities. Much like its forbearers Canto Mundo, Kundiman, Cave Canem, and Lambda Literary, Zoeglossia strives to create an open and supportive community that welcomes and fosters creativity. Through the creation of an annual retreat, poets from all backgrounds will have the opportunity to learn and develop from prominent, established writers, who also have disabilities. These retreats, which individuals will attend over a period of three years, will promote professional development among this shared creative community.

Their vision for the retreat centers around emerging writers coming to campus for three days of intensive work. The three-day retreat will admit approximately eight poets, who will be mentored by two prominent poets with disabilities. A third writer will be responsible for delivering a keynote lecture and panel participation. All attendees—teachers and students—will present their literary writing at a series of readings open to the public. Teachers and returning poets will provide panel discussions on professional and literary issues, as well as one-on-one conferences with the emerging writers. Much like Canto Mundo, writers, once admitted will be encouraged to attend three times over the following year to earn the prestigious title of "Fellow."

Their POEM OF THE WEEK section

Throughout the year, Zoeglossia invites a poet to curate the Poem of the Week. If you would like to guest curate, have questions, or want more information about POTW, please email poemoftheweek@zoeglossia.org.

Their Board Members

Michael Davidson is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. He has written extensively on poetry and poetics (The San Francisco Renaissance, Ghostlier Demarcations, Guys Like Us, On the Outskirts of Form) and more recently on disability issues: Concerto for the Left Hand (University of Michigan), Invalid Modernism (Oxford University Press), and Distressing Language: Disability and the Poetics of Error (New York University Press, 2022).  He is the editor of The Collected Poems of George Oppen and has published eight books of poetry, the most recent, Bleed Through: New and Selected Poems (Coffee House). 

Deaf, genderqueer poet Meg Day is the author of Last Psalm at Sea Level (Barrow Street, 2014), winner of the Publishing Triangle’s Audre Lorde Award. A recipient of the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship and an NEA Fellowship in Poetry, Day’s recent work can be found in Best American Poetry 2020 & The New York Times. Day teaches in the MFA Program at North Carolina State University. www.megday.com

Orchid Tierney is a poet and scholar from Aotearoa New Zealand, who now lives in Gambier, Ohio. She is the author of the collection a year of misreading the wildcats (The Operating System, 2019) and six chapbooks, including my beatrice (above/ground press, 2020) and ocean plastic (BlazeVOX Books, 2019). Her scholarship, reviews, and poetry have appeared in Jacket2, Venti, Fractured Ecologies, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Y22 Individual Artist Excellence Award. She is an assistant professor of English at Kenyon College and a senior editor at the Kenyon Review. orchidtierney.com

Donate?

Zoeglossia is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization seeking to help writers with disabilities explore and nurture their creative spirits through poetry. As a non-profit, all of our funding comes by means of grants and donations.

They are grateful for their most recent funders: Poetry Foundation ($15,000), Ford Foundation ($25,000), Amazon Literary Partners/Academy of American Poets ($5,000) and Mellon Foundation ($25,000).

If you would like to express your commitment to strengthening the voices of poets with disabilities, please consider donating via the donation button below.