... or 'Waffling in Wellington', take your pick of two titles Chris came up with - I couldn't decide which was worse.

Anyway, it's a literary event with a decidedly Dutch flavour which will be happening at the City Gallery in Wellington on Friday March 3. It’s called ‘Landscape with Rowers’, after a book of poetry which has been translated from Dutch by J.M. Coetzee (right). Starting at 10am, the full-day programme will star some of the best poets from NZ and The Netherlands.

It’s been organised from an unusual angle, not by your usual literati type, but by a neuroscientist, and one who is in imminent danger of making both disciplines seem somewhat alluring. I asked this young Dr Lauwereyns what cognitive psychology and neurophysiology has to do with poetry, and why he thinks Dutch literature is important in NZ. Here is what he said:

I moved to Wellington in January 2003, taking up a position as lecturer in the School of Psychology. My daytime job is that of a neuroscientist, studying the voluntary control of visual perception. I teach several classes at VUW, including ‘Brain & Behaviour’. In addition to being a neuroscientist, however, I also write novels, essays and poems. To date I have published six books in Dutch. Recently I have started combining my two interests, writing essays on literature from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience, or what the study of brain and mind can tell us about the magic of poetry. I’ll actually talk about this a little bit during the upcoming workshop, with emphasis on the importance of comparing different languages and literatures.

This is actually not the first time that Bill Manhire, Gregory O’Brien, Marc Kregting and I have worked together on a project. Last year I edited a special issue of the Belgian literary journal REVOLVER on New Zealand literature. The issue was entitled ‘New Zealand, natural experiment’ and invited readers in the Netherlands to think about the comparison between New Zealand literature and literature from the Low Countries (Netherlands and Flanders). For that issue I translated poetry and essays by Bill and Greg, but also Allen Curnow, Hone Tuwhare, Vincent O’Sullivan, Jenny Bornholdt, Glenn Colquhoun and Tusiata Avia. There were also contributions from Dutch writers such as Albert Bontridder, F. van Dixhoorn, Erik Spinoy, Marc Kregting and myself.

There are many parallels and commonalities between these two literatures, but also some interesting differences. By making these comparisons, I believe all parties gain a better understanding of what literature really is and what it can do, a sort of cross-cultural approach to ‘deep theoretical questions’. At the same time, it is good fun of course, looking inside other people’s backyards. One positive result of this project (with the support of Creative New Zealand) was that several New Zealand poets were invited to poetry festivals in Belgium and the Netherlands. Last winter, then, Bill, Greg, Jenny, Vincent and Tusiata went for their OE in Dutch. (Some details of that trip in LeafSalon’s interview with Greg O’Brien last year.)

Now the roles are reversed. The case is that two very good friends of mine are visiting New Zealand at the moment. They also happen to be two ‘hot, young’ people from the (micro-)world of Dutch literature. Their names are Dietlinde Willockx and Marc Kregting.

Dietlinde Willockx (born in 1975) is primarily a scholar and critic. She is affiliated with the University of Antwerp, School of Dutch Studies. Although she is quite young, she already has established herself as an important scholar in the area. She writes reviews for De Tijd (The Times, arguably the ‘best’ or ‘smartest’ newspaper in Belgium), and she is associated with the Flemish Fund for Literature, acting as expert for several committees, and Head of the Committee for Literary Journals. She recently (finally) completed her doctoral degree with an impressive 500 page study on the influence of the Flemish poet Guido Gezelle on contemporary Dutch poetry.

Marc Kregting (1965) is a poet and editor. His first book of poetry was published in 1994. Since then he has steadily strengthened his reputation as one of the most important and idiosyncratic voices in new Dutch literature. His poetry is notoriously ‘difficult’ without falling into the trap of extremist language experimentation. Instead his techniques are aimed at heightening the semantic concentration, while creating a jazzy type of staccato (Marc’s primary ambition was to be a musician). To date he has published four books of poetry, one essay, and two collections of fiction. A new book of poetry will appear in January 2006. In addition to being a poet’s poet, Marc is also an important critic, publishing essays in just about any literary journal in the Dutch language. His daytime job is that of senior editor for Vantilt (the main publisher for essays in Dutch).

In addition to Marc, Dietlinde and myself, we have four poets and scholars for whom Wellington is home. Bill Manhire and Gregory O’Brien require no introduction of course. Bill will discuss a collection of translations of Dutch poetry by the South African writer (and Nobel laureate) J.M. Coetzee. Greg will talk about his OE in the Netherlands, about Anne Vegter (a Dutch poet Greg met at the Poetry International festival in Rotterdam), and about CoBrA art by such painters and poets as Karel Appel, Lucebert and Hugo Claus – with some interesting parallels to NZ art by Colin McCahon, or even Ralph Hotere.

A notable appearance will also be that of Anna Jackson, introducing and reading from her new book of poetry The Gas Leak, which is largely inspired by the gasfitter sonnets of the Dutch poet Gerrit Achterberg. Then there will also be a very interesting presentation by Heidi Thomson, associate professor at VUW, world expert on romantic poetry (English romantic poetry, to be sure). Heidi was born and raised in Flanders, but moved to NZ about 15 years ago. Heidi will talk about ‘Against the forgetting’ and the many questions that enter the mind of an expat.

So we have a full day packed with exciting talks and readings. We also hope to get some questions from the public, nothing better than a good discussion during a workshop! Ideally, people will want to participate in the entire workshop. Thanks to the support of the Dutch embassy and the New Zealand Netherlands Foundation, we are able to host this event with minimal expense for the public. Tickets are $20 for the entire workshop; $10 for students and people with no wages. Depending on availability, we will offer discounted tickets for partial participation (e.g. only the morning or afternoon session).

Hope to see you there.
Jan

Programmes for the event can be picked up at the City Gallery, the Central Library, the Dutch Embassy (on the 10th floor of the building on Cnr of Featherston/Ballance streets), and from tonight at Unity books. For any further information, or to reserve tickets, email Jan at jan.lauwereyns@vuw.ac.nz or phone him on 04/463 5042.