poeticafe: jolyn phillips and anne vegter
In September, we launched a new literary salon at the Brussels poetry fair Poetik Bazar: Poeticafe. From the second edition onwards, we will be welcomed in the intimate setting of Café Lord Byron, where we will receive an international guest: writer, poet, musician, and activist Jolyn Phillips and the versatile poet Anne Vegter.
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salon
Poëticafe is a brand-new quarterly salon dedicated to poetry, public exchange and collective reflection. It offers a fixed venue for readings, lectures and discussions with poets and thinkers. The initiators are Alara Adilow, Frank Keizer and Filip Rogiers. As a literary salon is all about exchange, the audience is encouraged not only to listen, but also to reflect and discuss, in an appropriately intimate setting.
south africa
After first publishing a collection of short stories, Jolyn Phillips made her debut as a poet in 2017 with Radbraak, a collection written in Afrikaans. Just like her prose, her poetry immediately won awards. To call Phillips versatile is a serious understatement: she adapted her stories and poems for the theater, is also active as a singer-songwriter, and and works at Brown University, Rhode Island. In Brussels, she will demonstrate her talents and engage in conversation with Frank Keizer, who got to know her during a writing residency in South Africa.
projectmedewerkers
“Vegter is a poet through and through. She wants to keep surprising herself with her use of language and clearly enjoys remarkable twists and turns or clashes in her use of words. The humor and sensuality of her work make it something very special, something that exudes great charm.”
That is what Trouw wrote about our other guest, one of the most highly regarded poets in the Netherlands. Projectmedewerkers, a new collection, will be published in early 2026, and she may want to give us a taste of it at Lord Byron, but we are of course particularly curious about the place she gives to poetry in her life and in society.
about the authors
Jolyn Phillips (1992) was born and raised in Gansbaai, on the Western Cape of South Africa. Her debut collection of short stories, Tjieng Tjang Tjerries and other stories, won her the NIHSS prize for best fiction. Her collection of African poetry entitled Radbraak was awarded the UJ Prize for Best Debut in 2017, and Bientang: ’n !nau gedig received the Eugene Marais Prize in 2021 and was adapted for theater. She is also active as a singer-songwriter and performing artist. She works at Brown University, Rhode Island.
Anne Vegter (1958) is the author of poetry collections, children's books, theater monologues, and stories. She has received numerous literary awards, including the Anna Blaman Prize in 2004 for her entire oeuvre and the Ida Gerhardt Poetry Prize in 2022. From 2013 to 2017, she was Poet Laureate of the Netherlands; in 2021 and 2022, she was city poet of Rotterdam. In January 2026, her new collection Projectmedewerkers will be published by Querido Publishers.
the initiators
Alara Adilow (1988) is a Dutch poet of Somali descent. A finalist in the NK Poetry Slam in 2019, she has been published in several Dutch literary magazines and was selected for a queer art residency at the Arnhem Museum.
Frank Keizer (1987) is a poet, translator and literary critic. He studied Dutch and general literature at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), where he is currently doing a research master's degree in Dutch literature. In 2012, he published the booklet Dear world, fuck off, ik ga golfen (Dear world, fuck off, I'm going to play golf). Together with Maarten van der Graaff and Daniël Labruyère, he co-founded the literary platform Samplekanon. He has been a regular contributor to the literary magazine Parmentier and is a regular contributor to the website De Reactor. With Samuel Vriezen, he is currently translating the collection Disaster Suites by American poet Rob Halpern, to be published under the title Rampensuites by Perdu.
Filip Rogiers (1966) is the author of novels, short stories and non-fiction. As a journalist, he has reported on social issues for many years.
photos: jolyn phillips © brende veldtman, anne vegter © jacqueline van der kort, alara adilow © bob bronshoff, frank keizer © merlijn doomernik, filip rogiers © koen broos
Bientôt à Passa Porta
