Cumin splitters

With his new collection of poems 'Komijnsplitsers', Marieke Lucas Rijneveld takes another big step in his poetic career. In eight departments, Rijneveld investigates what it means to live: in a house, in yourself and in relationships with others. Who or what do you need to be a complete human being? One of the poems tells of the desire to be one space; someone finds a fire escape from this day, puts on a boy instead of a gray vest. The fear of becoming someone the other cannot have—"to mold the wrong man around your bones"—is the greatest danger to the all-too-recognizable and hopeful desire for growth. In a language that gasps and wipes the sweat from the brow, 'Cumin Splitters' is rock solid. In 2020 Marieke Lucas Rijneveld won the International Booker Prize for 'The evening is discomfort'.