Ben Cami

Ben Cami (30 August 1920 in Durham – 15 November 2004) was a Flemish poet.

Biography Cami was born in Durham, England, but his family soon moved to Belgium. His first volume of poetry was published privately in 1950, In de tijd verloren, whose poems were praised by Flemish critic Karel Jonckheere for their inspired content but criticized for a lack of rhythmic and lyrical qualities. He also wrote and published short stories.

Criticism According to Hugo Brems, author of a 1986 review article occasioned by the publication of the anthology Gedichten 1954-1983, Cami's poetry is that of a mildly anarchist outsider, though his early poetry differs starkly from his later work, developing from more general analysis and critiques of man in general to more quotidian observations of individualized people and objects. For Brems, Cami's poetry doesn't start until the publication of Het land van Nod, a collection (really, one single long poem) in which the poet pictures himself as Cain, who wanders alone through a biblical and mythical landscape, a godless world. Though the content of the volume established Cami's status as an avant-garde poet (in the style of Tijd en Mens), Cain having metaphorically killed God by killing Abel, its style, according to Brems, is solemn and in places almost sacred. Later collections were less homogeneous and of lesser quality, and his 1974 volume Wat ik wil is gelijk aan nul are, according to Brems, little more than anecdotal comments on the times; the poet does not regain his poetic voice until the last collection, Wat is er met de dood gaande?, which Brems praises for its atmosphere and suggestive power.

Cami was long unknown and forgotten. Paul Bogaert, writing in Tijd en Mens, argued his writing was old fashioned, and Patrick Peeters, in the Poëziekrant, says Cami was too traditional for the experimental poetry of his time, too abstract for neo-realism, too ironic or possibly too cynical for neo-romanticism, and only connected briefly with the socially and politically engaged poetry of the 1960s.

Collections In de tijd verloren (1950) Het land Nod (1954) Roos uit modder (1959) Doorsneemens (1961) Blanco stem (1967) Wat ik wil is gelijk aan nul (1974) Wat is met de dood gaande? (1978) Gedichten 1954-1983 (1984) Brief aan Dorothy en andere verhalen (1987) Ik ben hier vreemd (1988) Ten westen van Eden (1998)

Awards Dirk Martensprijs - Wat ik wil is gelijk aan nul (1974) Prijs van de stad Brussel - Wat is met de dood gaande? (1978) Herman Gorterprijs - Ten westen van Eden (1999)