Alfred Schaffer

(Leidschendam, 1973) is a poet, translator and lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He made his debut in 2000 with the poetry collection Zijn opkomst in de voorstad (His Rise in the Suburb). Over the years, his poetry collections were often awarded or nominated for several important prizes, and translations appeared in English, Afrikaans, French, Chinese, Indonesian, Swedish and other languages. For the collection Kooi he received the Jan Campert Prize and the Ida Gerhardt Poetry Prize in 2008. His work is sometimes humorous, sometimes matter-of-fact and at the same time full of absurd inventions. In 2014, he published his, again critically acclaimed collection Mens Dier Ding. In 2021, he published the personal collection Wie was ik?, for which he received the Herman De Coninck Prize. That same year, Alfred Schaffer was awarded the P.C. Hooft Prize, the largest annual oeuvre prize in Dutch literature.
(WU2025)Archive available for: Alfred Schaffer
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Uitreiking Haagse Literatuurprijzen
With: Adelina Ignat, Alfred Schaffer, Anaïs Van Ertvelde, Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Hella, Manon Uphoff, Marieke De Maré, Mirjam van Hengel, Sebastiaan van Eck en Judith Jamin, Simone Atangana Bekono, Tomas Lieske, Valérie Drost
The Hague Literature Prizes 2024 have been awarded to Tomas Lieske, Simone Atangana Bekono, Marieke De Maré and Anaïs Van Ertvelde. The Literatuurmuseum and Writers Unlimited organise the festive award ceremony on Saturday afternoon 25 January 2025.The ceremony will be moderated by Mirjam van Hengel.
The awards will be presented by The Hague alderman Saskia Bruines. Each winner will be honoured with a laudatio in the form of a musical or spoken performance by actor Gijs Scholten van Aschat, writer Manon Uphoff, poet Alfred Schaffer (on video), cello players Sebastiaan van Eck and Judith Jamin, and Flemish a capella formation Hella and others. The Young City Poet of The Hague 2024, Adelina Ignat, opens the award ceremony with recitation. Valérie Drost, director of the Literatuurmuseum/Kinderboekenmuseum, welcomes all attending.
The Constantijn Huygens Prize, the Hague Literature Prize for an oeuvre, has been awarded to Tomas Lieske (pseudonym of Ton van Drunen, 1943). With this prize, the jury awards his entire oeuvre, which consists of novels, stories, poems and essays in which language sparkles, curiosity flourishes and imagination is celebrated.
Simone Atangana Bekono (b. 1991) will receive the Jan Campert Prize 2024, the annual prize for poetry, for Marshmallow. According to the jury, one is left bewildered and charged after reading it. If you hold marshmallows over a flame just long enough, they are perfect: smoky on the outside, sweet on the inside, a tad dirty and irresistible for that very reason. The same goes for this collection of poems: it is an explosive mix of erotic imagery and linguistic tension that will stick in your head long after reading.
Marieke De Maré (b. 1985) has been awarded the F. Bordewijk Prize, the annual prize for the best Dutch-language prose book, for Ik ga naar de schapen. The jury believes that with this poetic work, De Maré shows how literature can unite extremes. This novel speaks powerfully about people who are mainly silent, is both light-footed and heavy, and both painfully recognisable and utterly alienating. This book is a gem to cherish.
Anaïs Van Ertvelde (b. 1988) has been awarded the J. Greshoff Prize, the biennial prize for a collection of essays, for Handicap: een bevrijding (Handicap: a liberation). It is a book that makes us look differently at what we thought we knew: disability. Not a limitation, but a liberation. Van Ertvelde not only introduces crip theory to our language area, she also revises the language we inherited to talk about bodies. And with that language, she changes our thinking. Handicap is an essay that the jury hopes everyone will have the chance to read.
A sum of 12,000,- is attached to the Constantijn Huygens Prize. The other prizes amount to 6,000,-. This year's jury consisted of: Jeroen Dera, Layla El-Dekmak, Rashif El Kaoui, Laurens Ham, Helma ven Lierop, Valérie Drost (chair), Mathijs Sanders, Jeannette Smit (secretary/treasurer) and Sarah Vankersschaever.
Bookstore De Vries van Stockum will be present in the foyer with a stand where books by the award-winning authors and other festival participants, among others, will be available for purchase!
Uitreiking Haagse Literatuurprijzen is curated by Jet Steinz on behalf of the Literatuurmuseum and Writers Unlimited. All information on the laureates can be found at literatuurmuseum.nl.
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Ode to Remco's Coat
The spotlight shines on the poetry of Remco Campert in this festive programme. Portuguese fado singer Cristina Branco set Campert's Ode aan mijn jas (Ode to My Coat) to music especially for this event. She is accompanied by João Paulo. Mustafa Stitou, Hanneke van Eijken, and three poets nominated for the VSB Poetry Prize—Hester Knibbe, Alfred Schaffer, and Peter Verhelst—each dedicate a poem to Remco or write a poem inspired by his poetry. The Blue Moon choir concludes the programme with a song about a passage from Het leven is verrukkulluk (Life is Delightful). Hosted by Alma Mathijsen. A collaboration with Poetry International and the VSB Poetry Prize. In Dutch.
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Writers Fest 2014
With: Aad Meinderts, Alfred Schaffer, Antjie Krog, Bettine Vriesekoop, Elsbeth Etty, Francis Broekhuijsen, Geert Mak, Huub van der Lubbe, Jaap Goedegebuure, Jan Paul Schutten, Marjolein de Jong, Micha Hamel, Oek de Jong, Ronald Snijders, Tijs Goldschmidt, Tiziano Perez, Tom Lanoye
The Writers' Fest is the festive conclusion of the festival with a programme full of writers and other guests. The line-up consists of among others the Dutch poet Alfred Schaffer, Geert Mak, the South African poet Antjie Krog, Tom Lanoye, literary critic Elsbeth Etty, flute player Ronald Snijders and singer/poet Huub van der Lubbe.
The Writers' Fest includes the award winning ceremony of the Jan Campert Prizes, the literary prizes of the City of The Hague, with the presentation of the Constantijn Huygens Oeuvre Prize. The winner is Tom Lanoye. The South African writer Antjie Krog will do a eulogy on him and we'll hear Lanoye's words of thanks.
The F. Bordewijk Prize goes to Pier en Oceaan (Jetty and Ocean) by Oek de Jong. The novel will be praised by Jaap Goedegebuure. Composer and poet Micha Hamel is recipient of the Jan Campert Prize for his book of poetry Bewegend doel (Moving Target). Bettine Vriesekoop will recommend the book to us. The Nynke van Hichtum Prize for children's literature goes to Het raadsel van alles wat leeft (The Riddle of Everything Alive) by Jan Paul Schutten. Writer and biologist Tijs Goldschmidt will sing the praise of that book.
A programme in co-operation with the Dutch Foundation for Literature and the Jan Campert Foundation. The earlier announced performance of Anne Vegter has been cancelled for health reasons.
In Dutch.
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Talking to the poets: Rodaan Al Galidi and Alfred Schaffer
Join the regulars' table. Host Francis Broekhuijsen welcomes poet Rodaan Al Galidi and Alfred Schaffer. We listen to their favourite music, and get a chance to talk to them. Don't forget to have your books of poetry signed. In Dutch.
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The Text of my Life: Alfred Schaffer
Which texts from world literature has Dutch poet Alfred Schaffer cherished as long as he lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. He discusses the text with the audience. In Dutch.
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Call me, call me!
'Name me, name me, speak to me, o, name me by my deepest name. For those I love, I want to be called,' Neeltje Maria Min wrote some fifty years ago in one of her most famous poems. The deep longing for love and confirmation is translated tonight in music and poetry by the poets Arie Boomsma introduces to us: the onrushing young debutante Kira Wuck, nominated for the C. Buddingh' Prize, the much-praised Alfred Schaffer, living in South Africa, the Dutch Iraqi poet Rodaan Al Galidi, who is perpetually in love and the nominees for the VSB Poetry prize Miriam Van hee and Antoinde de Kom. Interspersed with a magnificent performance by rapper/poet Typhoon.
Programme in cooperation with Poetry International and CPNB
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I speak your language
The new generation of poets Ronelda Kamfer (South Africa), Alfred Schaffer (Aruba/the Netherlands) and Hagar Peeters (the Netherlands) recite from their work and talk to Stephan Sanders about their language and poetry. Ronelda Kamfer writes in Afrikaans. Is that language in her country still symbolic of the language of the Apartheid regime? Is Afrikaans beyond guilt, or is there a job to do here for Afrikaans poets like her? Alfred Schaffer, the son of an Aruban mother and a father from Limburg, writes his poems in Dutch and lived in South Africa for a while. In her poetry Hagar Peeters explores modern specimens of suppression in the Netherlands. How do these three young poets look at the guilt or innocence of the language they write in? And how does that language relate to the reality they seek to capture in their poems?
Dutch/Afrikaans. -
Who's Afraid of Youth? Pupils have the floor
Don't miss it: pupils of Scholengroep Johan de Witt and the Atlas Onderwijs Groep, The Hague. They read their own work expressing their greatest fear. They are inspired by poet Saskia de Jong, who visited their schools, and by closereading a great many poems. Alfred Schaffer presents the new poets. They then reveal themselves as interviewers, asking De Jong questions on stage about the secrets of her trade.
More pupil poetry: see Winternachten Friday night. -
Who's Afraid of Youth? Pupils have the floor
Don't miss it: pupils of the Atlas Onderwijs Groep, The Hague. They read their own work expressing their greatest fear. They are inspired by poet Ester Naomi Perquin, who visited their schools, and by closereading a great many poems. Alfred Schaffer presents the new poets. They then reveal themselves as interviewers, asking Perquin questions on stage about the secrets of her trade. In Dutch. More pupil poetry: see Winternachten Saturday night.
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Berber poetry - the advance of the Tamazight
The way Fadma El Ouariachi reads is impressive. This poet from the Rif mountains writes poems in Tamazight, the language of the Berbers of North Africa. Young Dutch poet Khadija al Mourabit writes poets in this language. They performed together with Abdelkader Benali. He read poems from his recently published anthology Panacee. Specially for Winternachten he translated some of his poems into Tamazight. They spoke about the significance of the use of the Berber language in their work. In Morocco the language was kept out of public life for centuries, but recently is receives government support. Dutch translations.
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Young poets - part 1
'It is our explicit wish to remain anonymous', wrote poet Alfred Schaffer in his last anthology, Schuim (Foam). Nevertheless he and five other poets from the young generation read from their work. In this first part: Alfred Schaffer, made his debut in 2001 with the anthology Zijn opkomst in de voorstad (His Rise in the Suburb). He studied and worked in Cape Town, the city of poet Rustum Kozain. Kozains debut, This Charting Life, appeared in 2005. He did research into English South African poetry from the 1970s. The first book of poetry by Vrouwkje Tuinman, entitled Vitrine (Display Case), appeared in 2004. She read from her new collection De receptie (The Reception). Poet Tsead Bruinja introduced the poets and talked to them. The conversation was in English, there was a simultaneous projection in English of the Dutch poems.
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Pupils in search of poetry
Tense and a little uncomfortably they roamed the theatre: the pupils who had to perform at the festival and who meanwhile stared at what their professional examples brought to the stage. Poet Alfred Schaffer presented the pupils from The Hague and their fresh verse. Inpsired by a poet in class, films on poetry or poets on the internet pupils wrote a poem about their personal expedition. Organized by the Huis van Gedichten (the House of Poems) and Winternachten. Dutch spoken.
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Pupil poets
Do not underestimate them, the young talents at the secondary school in The Hague. In the past few years they made quite an impression with the poems they wrote for Winternachten. Alfred Schaffer presents the young poets, who were inspired by a poet in class, films on poetry and poets on the internet. Tonight we'll hear the result: their personal expedition in poetic form. Dutch spoken.
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The last journey
It happens a number of times a year in our country: a funeral where no one turns up. There are no surviving relatives or they show no interest in the deceased. The coffin is lowered into the ground under the watchful eye of the civil servant of social services. Enough, some poets thought. Now they write poems for these lonely funerals. Frank Starik, Neeltje Maria Min and Anneke Brassinga on the power of poetry. Dutch spoken.
The child
There is a mother in our life, she is
the ground and knows why we were born,
wherever we go she leads the way, where even
we didn't dare to walk - on
untrod earth in the underworld
as if she were laid to rest there,
as if she turned a hundred and nearly became our kid.You follow her as if she summoned:
Klara, daughter, come you're dearly missed.
Was there no man or animal to talk to?
The longcase clock struck every quarter, chat-
tering refrain of silence. Twelve weeks
you were an orphan - twelve centuries?
Now rest in peace, be reunited permanently.[Anneke Brassinga]
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The Visual Poem
In a time when the image culture becomes more and more invasive, the visual poem has fallen out of favour. Five poets will make an attempt to bring this tradition back to life: Wim Brands, Def. P, Hagar Peeters, Alfred Schaffer and Simon Vinkenoog. At Winternachten's request each one of them chose a recent newspaper picture and wrote a poem for this. We see the pictures and hear the poems read by the poets. The poets will take part in a discussion during the evening, chaired by Cox Habbema.
Dutch spoken -
VPRO De Avonden - live from Winternachten
In the second hour of this live broadcast from Winternachten, Wim Brands and Roel Bentz van den Berg present the Dutch poet Alfred Schaffer, Erich Zielinski from Curaçao who made his debut later in life, the South African poet Diana Ferrus and the Dutch writer Thomas Verbogt. Zielinski wil talk about his much praised De Engelenbron (The Angels well), Ferrus will recite some of her Afrikaans poetry, and Alfred Schaffer, who only yesterday re-emigrated from South Africa, will recite some of his poems. De Avonden (The Evenings) is an informative cultural radio programme from the VPRO. It can be listened to on weekdays between 21.00 to 23.00 on 747AM.
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Presentation of the school poetry project
Two students of the Johan de Witt college in the Hague will present the results of a poetry project in cooperation with Huis van Gedichten (House of poems). About twenty students, varying in age from 15 to 19 years old, have each written a poem around the theme of this year's festival, 'Word and Image'. During the writing workshops the students were led by amongst others the poet Alfred Schaffer. This evening the two best poems will be introduced by Alfred Schaffer and recited by the young poets themselves.