Bas Kwakman

BIO | WORK

Poetry International Web is a website for outstanding modern poetry from many different countries. The site makes poetry accessible to a worldwide audience by publishing poems both in the original language and in English translation, accompanied by interviews, essays and further information. Poetry International Web is a remarkable cooperative effort of editors from twenty-one countries worldwide. These editors are well-known and respected professionals within their field. The project is coordinated from Rotterdam. The website has grown into an internationally acknowledged resource for outstanding poetry since its launch in 2002, and is widely perceived to be unique in its kind.

Goals

Poetry International Web (PIW) aims to propagate outstanding international poetry and the translations of such poetry. By using the internet, with specific means such as visual elements, audio, links and other interactive elements, PIW is able to publish poetry and exchange information about poetry worldwide in an attractive way. PIW intends to expand and make international poetry even more accessible, by adding new elements (audio, video, interactive elements) to the site and stepping up its publicity campaign. The website is set to grow with many more countries and will keep increasing visitors. numbers: so far over a million visitors have been counted, with an average of 3600 visitors daily.

Activities

The most important tool for reaching these goals is PIW.s monthly online magazine. Each month, the partners of PIW publish a magazine on the site containing new poetry, background information, poets. biographies, essays, poets. diaries and discussions. Creating a poetry magazine on such a international level is unique in Europe and the rest of the world.

The magazine allows visitors to see the international, social, cultural, political and literary context of the poems published on PIW. More audio and video fragments will be added to the site, and the magazine will also feature e-poetry and other recent developments in poetry.

Countries

PIW at this moment has thirty-seven country domains: