Komrij is considered to be one of the greatest living Dutch poets. From 2000 to 2004 he was the first poet laureate, Dichter des Vaderlands, of the Netherlands. In addition to being a poet, Komrij is also a prose writer of stature. His pieces on poetry make him one of the few Dutch poetry critics of any significance. Komrij is both admired and feared because of his sardonic humor and biting pen.
His translation of the book on which the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical 'Cats' was based, was used for the Dutch version of the musical.
In Verwoest Arcadië (Destroyed Arcadia [1980]), he gives an autobiographical "reconstruction of a life amidst boys and books."Komrij has written librettos to two operas: Symposium by Peter Schat (1994), which dramatizes the last days in the life of Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky and Melodias Estranhas by Antonio Chagas Rosa (2000).
In the 1970s and 1980s, Komrij and his partner Charles Hofman befriended a number of Dutch authors including Boudewijn Büch, with whom he maintained a lengthy correspondence. In the early 1980s Komrij and Hofman moved to Portugal, not long after his play Het Chemisch Huwelijk premiered in Amsterdam; he has lived in Portugal ever since.
Komrij also worked under the names Mr. Pennewip, Gerrit Andriesse and Griet Rijmrok.
Sources:
glbtq, Dutch and Flemish Literature
Poetry International Web
wikipedia
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