A pioneering female voice
The Frisian writer and poet Lipkje Post-Beuckens (1908–1983) wrote about women and people living on the margins of society. She published under several pseudonyms, including Ypk fan der Fear; her poetry appeared under the name Ella Wassenaer. She won the Rely Jorritsma Prize four times and, in 1979, received the Gysbert Japicx Prize for her entire oeuvre.
Under the name Ella Wassenaer, she was one of the few female Frisian poets to embrace experimentation in the 1950s. She was not only a true pioneer as a virtuoso of form, but also a poet pur sang who dared to place women at the centre of her work within a strongly paternalistic Frisian environment.
Today, the festival and production house Explore the North and deBuren, the Flemish-Dutch house for culture and debate, together with many young makers, celebrate this important voice. This takes shape in the performance The Rediscovery of Ella Wassenaer (previously presented at the Explore the North Festival, Oerol, and at deBuren) and in a reissue of her poetry collection Reade Runen / Rode Runen.
Reissue of Reade Runen / Rode Runen
The iconic collection Reade Runen (1959) by the Frisian pioneering poet Ella Wassenaer has been translated from Frisian into Dutch for the first time by Zindzi Tillot Owusu. Wassenaer’s work is further accompanied by in-depth yet illuminating essays by Albertina Soepboer, Maria Barnas, Elisa Demarré, Annelies Verbeke, and Sophia Blyden, as well as literary contributions by Mona Thijs, Jaimy Hindriks, Zindzi Tillot Owusu, and Charlotte Westra. The volume was compiled and edited by Willem Bongers-Dek and Marleen Nagtegaal.
Collection Presentations
During Explore the North Festival 2025, the collection was officially presented by Mona Thijs, Jaimy Hindriks, Zindzi Tillot Owusu, Charlotte Westra, Marleen Nagtegaal, and Willem Bongers-Dek. Ypkje Hoekstra-Post, Ella Wassenaer’s daughter, was present to receive the first copy.
The collection was also presented on Wednesday 10 December 2025 at KANTL in Ghent and on Wednesday 17 December 2025 at Perdu in Amsterdam. During these events, Sophia Blyden spoke with the editors of the collection, Marleen Nagtegaal (Explore the North) and Willem Bongers-Dek (deBuren), and there were various readings and conversations featuring, among others, Annelies Verbeke, Elisa Demarré, Jaimy Hindriks, Mona Thijs, Zindzi Tillot Owusu, and Charlotte Westra.