Poetry Week 2025: Groningen's Words in Motion

Entrance of Bookstore Godert Walter © Lena Brinkmann

Poetry Week 2025, running from January 30 to February 5, celebrates poetry across the Netherlands and Flanders while showing the power and beauty of words. In Groningen, the city's poetry scene comes alive with a range of events that offer fresh perspectives on local voices, regional dialects, and new talent.

Whether it's preserving the Groningen dialect or providing a stage for new poets - these events highlight the diverse ways poetry continues to shape both cultural heritage and the local artistic scene.

Poetry in Unexpected Spaces

The Henk Kraayenzank Art Gallery in the heart of Groningen is hosting a unique event on Thursday 30 January, where the art form poetry takes center stage for the first time. Together with the poets from the collective WP99, the gallery hosts an afternoon of live readings with an open-door format. The concept of the event called Poetry Group on Studio Visit is simple: “If people are passing by and think, ‘We’d like to hear some beautiful poetry,’ they come in,” says gallery owner Henk Kraayenzank to The Glass Room.

The event was initiated by a conversation between Henk and a poet who had previously exhibited his work at the gallery. While Henk isn't personally connected to poetry - “I’m a painter and a theatre man, so it’s a different kind of poetry” - he embraces the idea of blending art and spoken word.

Keeping Groningen’s Dialect Alive Through Poetry

Inside one of Groningen’s oldest bookstore, Godert Walter, an annual tradition unfolds. Avond met Grunninger Dichters isa poetry evening on Thursday 30 January, dedicated to the Groningen dialect. “It’s very traditional,” says owner Allard Steenbergen to The Glass Room. “We’ve been doing this for about 20 years.” Unlike the larger Poetry Week events, this gathering highlights local poets, most of them have published works in the regional language.

Despite its long history, the event draws a modest crowd. “Most of the time, it’s a very small audience,” he says, “but it’s a firm audience.” The significance of the evening extends beyond numbers - it is also about cultural preservation. “It’s very important to express those words in your own dialect,” says Allard. “It has meaning to speak in your own language or dialect.”

The bookstore’s deep connection to the city’s heritage plays a role in keeping the event alive. “From its beginnings, Godert Walter has always had a broad section of books about Groningen, not just history, but also in the Groningen language,” Allard says. 

As younger generations increasingly adopt Dutch as their primary language, the Groningen dialect faces a slow decline. Events like this remain crucial in keeping the language from fading into obscurity. “If you are raised in a certain language and it feels very familiar to you, and you have people with whom you can speak that dialect, it’s important to keep it alive, for your feeling of language, and also for your cultural habitat,” says Allard.

Interested in the sound of poetry? Allard reads a poem by local poet Jan Glas:

A Celebration of Emerging Talent

At Theatre Le Capel, the monthly event POËZIE MET shows a mix of poets  primarily from the northern regions, and a musical act on Friday 31 January. This special edition, part of Poetry Week, features a lineup with a strong presence of female voices, as poet Mik Braaksma shared with The Glass Room.

Mik believes the city's poetry scene is thriving, with events like Poetry per Tutti or the Dichtclub. However, they emphasize the need for more spaces where emerging writers and performers can hone their craft. “It sounds like there are a lot of events, but it’s still only a few. Writers and musicians need a place to start before moving to bigger stages,” says Mik.

Poetry became an important part of Mik’s life after a wrist injury sidelined their music. “It was a new way to express myself without instruments,” they say, adding that poetry’s freedom, unboundedness to rules of form or rhyme, opens up endless creative possibilities. “You can do so much art with words. It just makes me really happy to be a part of that.”