Mark
Insingel (Belgium / writes in Dutch)
1935
Born
in 1935, poet Mark Insingel debuted in 1963 with a collection Drijfhout
(Driftwood). From the beginning he wrote in an experimental style that yet
stood for as a social position advocating freedom of expression.
In this context Insingel also worked with
aural and visual aspects of language, particularly in the collections PERPETUUM
MOBILE of 1969, one of the first volumes of concrete poetry in the Dutch
language, and in Posters of 1974.
In much of Insingel’s poetry, he repeats
and juxtaposes phrases and lines, which give the reader the sense of
mathematical structures.
In 1990 he published what he described as
his collected poems, elkanders armen (In Each Other’s Arms); but since
there he has published other works such as Niets (Nothing, 2005) and Iets
(Something, 2007), works that have attracted a younger generation.
Insingel has also written novels,
including Bespiegelingen (Reflections, 1968), Een Tidsverloop
(A Course of Time) and Eenzaam lichaam (Lonely Body, 1996). The
first two volumes were translated and published in English by Calder and Boyars
in England and Red Dust in the US.
He has won several literary prizes,
including the Literary Prize of De Vlaamse Gids in 1970, the Readers’ Prize for
best poetry in 2007, and a nomination for the prestigious Herman de Connick
Prize in 2007).
BOOKS
OF POETRY
Drijfhout (Deurle: Colibrant, 1963); PERPETUUM MOBILE (Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1969); Posters (Bruges: Orion, 1974); Dat wil zeggen (Bruges: Sonneville, 1975); In elkanders armen (Haarlem, In de Knipscheer, 1990); Niets (Ghent: Poëziecentrum, 2005); Iets (Ghent: Poëziecentrum, 2007); Het doel is wit (Ghent: Poëziecentrum, 2017)
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE TRANSLATIONS
Ed.
By Tom Van de Voorde, Poets from Flanders: Mark Insingel (Antwerp:
Flemish Literature Fund, n.d.); When a Lady Shakes Hands with a Gentleman
(New York: Red Dust, 1982); My Territory (New York: Red Dust, 1987)
(from
PERPETUUM MOBLIE, 1969)
With
Heads Held High
with
heads held high
with
heads held high
with
heads held high and in straight lines
with
heads held high and in straight lines and with banners waving
with
heads held high and in straight lines and with banners waving and at a steady
pace
with
heads held high and in straight lines and with banners waving and at a steady
pace and with songs resounding
with
heads held high and in straight lines and with banners waving and at a steady
pace and with songs resounding and in bright uniforms
with
heads held high and in closed ranks and with banners waving and at a steady
pace and with songs resounding and in bright uniforms
with
heads held high and in closed ranks and following the flag at a steady pace and
with songs resounding and in bright uniforms
with
heads held high and in closed ranks and following the flag and in march time
and with songs resounding and in bright uniforms
with
heads held high and in closed ranks and following the flag and in march time
and with songs thundering and in bright uniforms
with
heads held high and in closed ranks and following the flag and in march time
and with songs thundering and in battle dress
with
grinning faces and in closed ranks and following the flag and in march time and
with songs thundering and in battle dress
with
grinning faces and like a gang and following the flag and in march time and
with songs thundering and in battle dress
with
grinning faces and like a gang and pursuing the people and in march time and
with songs thundering and in battle dress
with
grinning faces and like a gang and pursuing the people and on the double and
with songs thundering and in battle dress
with
grinning faces and like a gang and pursuing the people and on the double and
roaring and shouting and in battle dress
with
grinning faces and like a gang and pursuing the people and on the double and
roaring and shouting and spattered with blood
—Translated
from the Dutch by James S. Holmes
(from
Posters, 1974)
‘If
I were not afraid
I
would have the courage.
If
I had the courage
I
would succeed
I
would be able to.
If
I were able to
I
would want it.
If
I were to want it
I
would be able to.
If
I were able to
I
would succeed
I
would have the courage.
If
I had the courage
Then
I wouldn’t be afraid.’
—Translated
from the Dutch by Willem Groenewegen
(from
In elkanders armen, 1990)
Does
she want to be in the right
or
him to be in the wrong?
Does
she to be in the right
want
him to be in the wrong?
Does
she want to be in the right
to
be able to say he’s in the wrong?
Does
she want him to be wrong as punishment
for
not letting her be in the right?
Does
she need to be in the right
to
erase her feeling of being wronged?
Doe
she feel wronged because
he
wants to be in the right?
Is
his being in the right
her
being in the wrong?
—Translated
from the Dutch by Willem Groenewegen
(from
In elkanders armen, 1990)
She
was so nice in
his
confusion.
He
was so slender in
her
tenderness.
They
were so exciting
in
each other’s arms.
He
was so slender in
his
tenderness.
She
was so nice in
her
confusion.
They
were so exciting
in
each other’s arms.
He
was so nice in
his
confusion.
She
was so slender in
her
tenderness.
They
were so exciting
in
each other’s arms.
She
was so slender in
his
tenderness.
He
was so nice in
her
confusion.
—Translated
from the Dutch by Willem Groenewegen
(from
In elkanders armen, 1990)
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