Born in 1928, Simon Vinkenoog, experienced as a teenager World War II and the German occupation. Like many of his generation he was drawn to Paris after the war, in the days when writing appeared as a subversive act. He worked in Paris for several years, keeping in close contact with artists such as Karel Appel, at whose exhibitions he recited his poems and prose. Here also he published a journal, Blurb, in which he explained his ideas for a new order of the arts. His important anthology of poetry, Atonaal, became a major influence for experimental Dutch poets and others.
Returning to the Netherlands, Vinkenoog became involved with the Dutch Fiftiers, sharing their radical sense of poetic structure and subject. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, Vinkenoog embraced many of the socially and artistically radical groups, including the Beats, becoming a sort of guru for many younger Dutch authors.
BOOKS OF POETRY:
Wondkoorts (Amsterdam: U. M. Holland, 1950); Land zonder nacht (1952); Heren Zeventien (Amsterdam: De Beuk, 1953); Tweespraak (with Hans Andreus) (s’-Gravenhage: Stols, 1956); Spiegelschrift-Gebruikslyriek (Amsterdam; De Bizige Bij, 1962); Gesproken woord (Jazz & Poetry) (1964); Eerste Gedichten 1949-1964 (Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1966); Wonder boven wonder (Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1972); Mij best (Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1976); Het huiswerk van de dichter (Massbree: Corrie Zelen, 1978); Made in Limburg (Massbree: Corrie Zelen, 1979); Poolschoogte/Approximations [bilingual] (Heerlen: Uitgerverij 261, 1981); Voeten in de aarde en berge verzetten (Amsterdam: Guus Bauer, 1982); Op het eerste gehoor (Amsterdam: De Beuk, 1988); Vreugdevuur (Groningen: Passage, 1998); De ware Adam (Groningen: Passage, 2000); Goede raad is vuur (Groningen: Passage, 2004)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRANSLATIONS:
And the Eye Became a Rainbow , trans. by Cornelis Vleeskens (Melbourne: Fling Poetry, 1990).
