Literary Shopping Around the Corner
De Zinnenfabriek is more than a shop; it’s an experience. When you enter, you’re greeted by walls lined with books and ceilings decorated with floating slips of paper. In the shelves and little compartments you’ll find poems about everyday products such as household items, beauty products, food, and clothing. Everywhere you look, there are handwritten scrolls with rhyming discoveries, ready to be taken home as personal messages to accompany gifts. At the back of the shop, children sit around a large table talking with a word artist, working on their own Sinterklaas poem. Meanwhile, at the counter, the latest poem about a hair dryer is being purchased.
De Zinnenfabriek is open for one month and offers all residents poems as a cultural end-of-year gift from the municipality. Marrit Jellema, the City Poet of Leeuwarden, leads the project and collaborates with various local word artists and volunteers, all recognisable by their vintage factory outfits. The shop is open on Friday and Saturday afternoons. The poems are created by different word artists from Leeuwarden in various languages: Frisian, Liwwadders, and English. They do not have fixed prices but are offered on a pay-what-you-can basis; customers may decide for themselves what the poem is worth and what they can spare. It is also possible to have custom poems made by one of the word artists at De Zinnenfabriek under the same principle.
De Zinnenfabriek is a pop-up poetry shop founded by City Poet Marrit Jellema, in collaboration with the municipality of Leeuwarden. The shop is run by Marrit and her team of word artists. Young and old are welcome to browse the shelves and drawers filled with surprising texts and original poems.
De Zinnenfabriek is open on:
Friday 21 November from 12:00 to 17:00
Saturday 22 November from 12:00 to 17:00
Languages: Dutch, English, Frisian, Liwwadders.
