Join us for a poetry reading and lecture on creativity by the acclaimed Netherlands-based poet and composer Rozalie Hirs. Her poems and musical compositions are lyrical and innovative, and in both art forms she explores the adventure of listening, reading, and imagining.

The poetry of Rozalie Hirs has appeared in numerous print collections as well as in digital formats that feature interactive poems created with visual artists. Hirs has written six poetry books in Dutch, as well as four books in German, Serbian, English, and Spanish respectively. Her recent gestammelte werke (Berlin: 2017), or “work in stuttering,” is a multilingual collection in more than ten languages and a manifesto for multilingual living and reading. Other recent titles include ahora es una rosa (Montevideo: 2019) and verdere bijzonderheden (Amsterdam, 2017). Her works can also be heard on these links:

Lyrikline, Berlin (poetry)

Curvices app (poetry, music)

In LA (text piece, composition)

Hirs holds degrees from Columbia University (Composition; Doctor of Musical Arts, 2007), the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (Composition; Master of Music, 1998), and Twente University (Chemical Engineering; Master of Science, 1990). Photo: Marco Borggeve

This program is sponsored by the General Collections & Humanities Center and Kresge International Center of the San Francisco Public Library in partnership with the Dutch Foundation for Literature.