En nu de droom over is...

Michael Arnoldus Slory (1935) is generally recognised as the most important poet of Surinam. Grown up in Totness, the capital of the ‘coconut district’ Coronie, and raised in the Catholic faith, Slory developed an interest in the Surinam culture with its winti rituals and its wealth of music. For his Spanish studies he came to the Netherlands, where he made his debut in the early sixties with the collection of poetry Sarka/Bittere strijd. From 1970, after having written two more collections in Dutch, he decided to use Sranangtongo, the national language of Surinam. His poems contributed to the national conscience of his country, but because the political developments after independence disappointed him, Slory bade farewell to the arena of the public debate. The poet is now mainly publishing love poems. Despite his enormous reputation his work is hardly read anymore in his native country. Second writer‘s portrait by John Albert Jansen, who previously devoted a documentary to the British poet/journalist James Fenton.