October 26, 1998

Contact:
Contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189

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Three Dutch Women Poets Read at the Library of Congress in "Literature From Europe" Series

Carla Boogaards, Anna Enquist and Elly de Waard will read from their work at the Library of Congress on Oct. 28 at 6:45 p.m. in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. The evening's program is presented by the Library's Office of Scholarly Programs and the European Division in conjunction with the Royal Netherlands Embassy. It is one in a series of "New Literature from Europe" programs. A reception will follow the reading.

These three poets are among the 45 women poets whose works have been assembled for the recently published bilingual anthology The Defiant Muse: Dutch and Flemish Feminist Poems from the Middle Ages to the Present. The product of nearly 10 years of research and translation, the book was compiled by Maaijke Meijer, Associate Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Carla Boogaards writes poetry and prose as well as short theater pieces, in which she also performs. Love is central to her work, and underlying all her work is the desire to show that women do have influence. Her latest collection of poetry, God bewogen (God Moved) was published in 1997.

After a career as a classical pianist, Anna Enquist became a psychotherapist and then, in her late 30s, a poet. Her first volume, Soldatenliederen (Soldiers' Songs), caused a literary sensation when it appeared in 1991. She has subsequently published three more collections of poetry and is also a best-selling novelist.

Elly de Waard worked from 1965 to 1984 as a rock critic for two leading Dutch newspapers. Her first book of poems, Afstand (Distance), came out in 1978 and her 10th volume, Anderling (Alien) was published earlier this year. Ms. de Waard is the leading figure of the group of Dutch female poets known as the New Savages, whose expressive works have been collected in several anthologies.

The readings will be primarily in English.

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PR 98-175
10/26/98
ISSN 0731-3527