Egbert discusses his craft and inspiration for Ravelijn

The first ever Campus Poet has been selected, with the award that every new poet will envy – a debut in a collection to be published this year – going to Egbert van Hattem. The new poet was selected by an expert jury led by Ed Brinksma.
 
Robbin Engels
 
An avid draught player, who often competes in national competitions, he finished his Phd study in the Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society in 1992 and works two days each week at the Science shop on campus. Since 1990, as a sport and science journalist, he published articles appearing in the Technisch Weekblad, UT Nieuws and Volkskrant.
Inspired to compose his poem, while standing in the Ravelijn building one afternoon, he first noticed words in a painting on the wall: ‘speak and listen’. He began to scribble thoughts on paper and imagined a ‘new kind of scientist’, discussing openly ―not only research and writing with fellow researchers who came from all over the world― but he envisioned a dream, when the sun’s light came pouring through the window. ‘The poem is about knowledge being shared in open discussions and at “immature moments” with people from different cultural backgrounds and academic disciplines, and also with the “man on the street”.’
His poetry is not rhymed, and exhibits his deep knowledge and love of science with subtle religious overtones cropping in juxtaposition to his main theme. ‘I am inspired by an image and a complex thought,’ he shares, ‘which I feel is valuable to write down in beautiful language―to engage and create a new kind of meaning’.
He says he tries to make a painting of words and finds making the final decision to ‘end a poem’, a ‘painful decision’, and never does he have the feeling that his poems are completely finished and ready to be sent out into the world. The original version of his poem ‘Ravelijn’ is bilingual with the first stanza in English and the following two in Dutch, expressing the atmosphere of the campus (see pg. 2).
The new Campus Poet says he admires and is inspired by the works of three poets, whose names ironically all begin with the letter W, starting with Enschede’s well-known poet, Willem Wilmink, followed by Willem Jan Otten, and William Shakespeare. Van Hattem, 45, will receive a year of coaching by literary scout Jasper Henderson and the chance to create five original poems this year, as the UT celebrates its 50th anniversary. ‘It means a great deal to me to win this honor,’ he says, ‘I think it is a strong stimulus to write more poems.’
The other shortlisted poets were Leila Nahidi Azar, Beer Sijpesteijn, Walter Pieters and Leonie Brummer. At the poetry evening, international researcher and published novelist, Leila Nahidi Azar, won the public prize for her passionate reading in English and Persian of her poem inspired when she looked through the lens of a microscope. Her submission was the only English-language entry to make it to the final selection.
 
Ravelijn
Speak up, and listen
See who’s coming unto you,
Take a look at the ceiling,
Watch the light come shining through.
A light index of refraction,
As if made of thin flint glass,
Let the bias disappear,
Closer to the sun, melting like wax.
High tech rests, yet not always,
Nor can it hang,
Suspended in the cleanroom
Of the high minded.
Meet in selflessness,
Let your brainwaves be shared.
Keep evolving.
 
Egbert van Hattem 
 

Foto: Gijs Ouwerkerk