Peter Holvoet Hanssen Biography

Peter Holvoet-Hanssen (1960) worked as a dolphin keeper before debuting in 1998 with the collection of poems, Dwangbuis van Houdini (Houdini’s Straitjacket), which was awarded the major Flemish debutant prize. The collection is a homage to the Hungarian escapologist, Harry Houdini. Following in the footsteps of Houdini, boundaries are stretched, manacles are wriggled out of and all accepted constraints in poetry alluded. Holvoet-Hanssen calls himself an ambassador of the ‘active ingredient’: his work unites extremes. The high with the low, the inaccessible with the accessible, humour with emotion, routine with insanity. Characteristic is the theatrical and musical content of this work, which makes him much in demand as a guest at literary performances.