Today at the Explore the North festival in Leeuwarden, Nyk de Vries was appointed by deputy for the province of Fryslân Sietske Poepjes as the new Poet of Fryslân. Nyk de Vries succeeds Eeltsje Hettinga, who took leave of his position as first Poet of Fryslân today.

As a Poet of Fryslân, Nyk de Vries will act as a poetic ambassador for the next two years. He writes six to ten poems a year, inspired by striking and current events in the province. An advisory committee consisting of Michelle Samba, Job Degenaar and Eeltsje Hettinga has nominated the new Poet of Fryslân to the Provincial Executive.

Nyk de Vries
Nyk de Vries (1971, Noardburgum) is a writer and musician. He lives and works in Amsterdam. With his prose poems he regularly performs at literature and theater festivals in the Netherlands and abroad. He has also written several novels and collections of poetry. At the end of 2011, his collection ‘Things happen because they rhyme’ was published. In 2013 ‘Glans’ was published, a prose story about his time as an employee of Ikea Groningen. His book Renger, published in both Dutch and Frisian in 2016, was nominated for the Gysbert Japicxpriis in 2019. His prose poems can also be heard regularly on radio 1 in the Studio Idzerda program.

Poet of Fryslân Nyk de Vries: “This job is a great honor and comes at the right time for me. I can teach myself a lot again. That is the best thing; when you can take yourself on new paths. Then anything can happen.”

The Poet of Fryslân is an initiative of the province of Fryslân and is being implemented by the Afûk. With the appointment of the Poet of Fryslân, the province wants to draw more attention to the art form of poetry from a wider audience. More information about the Poet of Fryslân can be found on this website.