Esther Jansma
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Esther Jansma (24 December 1958 – 23 January 2025) was a Dutch writer, poet and academic. Jansma was born in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
on 24 December 1958, the daughter of two sculptors: Adam Jansma and Nel van Lith. Her father died in an accident when Jansma was six years old. She started writing poetry at an early age: she wrote her first poem at the age of 12.Biography
bloodaxebooks.com. Accessed 21 March 2025.
She later worked as an
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
. She was the scientific director of the Netherlands Centre for Dendrochronology Foundation. Dendrochronologists investigate the age and origin of wood, and often try to discover something about the lives of people centuries ago. She was a special professor of dendrochronology and paleoecology at Utrecht University. Jansma published her first collection of poetry ''Stem onder mijn bed'' (''Voice under my Bed'') in 1988. In 1990, she published ''Bloem, steen'' (''Flower, Stone''), which reflected her feelings after her first child died at birth. She was a professor in the Geosciences department at
Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...
. In 2024, she was knighted for her work as a dendrochronologist, appointed a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion (the Dutch equivalent of a British damehood), partly for her research into the Dutch part of the Roman Limes, the border defences of the Roman Empire. She won several awards for her poetry, and read her work at many international festivals. Jansma died from cancer in
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
on 23 January 2025, at the age of 66.


Selected works

Source: * ''Waaigat'' (Blow Hole), poetry (1993) * ''Picknick op de wenteltrap'' (Picnic on the Winding Stairs), novel (1997) * ''Hier is de tijd'' (Time is Here), poetry (1998), received the VSB Poetry Prize * ''Dakruiters'' (Spires), poetry (2000), received the Hugues C. Pernath-prijs * ''Alles is nieuw'' (Everything is New), poetry (2005), nominated for the VSB Poetry Prize and received the and the
Jan Campert Prize The Jan Campert Prize (in Dutch: Jan Campert-prijs) is a Dutch literary prize established in 1948, which is awarded annually for works of poetry by the Jan Campert Foundation. The foundation was created in 1948 to honour Jan Campert, considered ...


References


External links

* * 1958 births 2025 deaths Dutch women poets 20th-century Dutch archaeologists Academic staff of Utrecht University Writers from Amsterdam University of Amsterdam alumni Dutch women archaeologists 21st-century Dutch archaeologists Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands {{Netherlands-writer-stub