Will You Teach Me Poetry

Willem-Jan Otten

At the same time as 'Deep Ebb', Willem Jan Otten publishes an essayistic confession of poetry. Because Otten is not only a gifted poet, but also a great admirer and interpreter. "Do you want to teach me poetry?" the girl Franny Brawne asked her neighbor John Keats, in 1818. Willem Jan Otten asks that question to every poet who concerns him. In the book they include: Les Murray, Ida Gerhardt, Chr. J. van Geel, Judith Herzberg, Elisabeth Eybers, Tomas Tranströmer, Jorge Luis Borges, Anton van Wilderode, Wallace Stevens, Denise Levertov, Yehuda Amichai, Czeslaw Milosz.

'Do you want to teach me poetry' is about finding a poem you forgot. Come up with a word. How do you know a poem is finished? Is writing in the sand poetry? Can you want poetry?