Virgula

Janssen's engagement and honesty in addressing themes about motherhood, grief and illness is revelatory and compelling.

Virgula is an award-winning collection by acclaimed Dutch poet Sasja Janssen, and her second collection to be published in English, translated by Michele Hutchison.

'Sultry, raw and relentless. This intoxicating poetry seizes you with its beautiful, rich images and refuses to let go.' – Awater Poetry Prize jury

'This book is stunning. Totally wild.' – Jack Underwood

In Virgula, Sasja Janssen’s award-winning collection, the comma becomes much more than a punctuation mark; it stops the stillness and allows thoughts and language to move forward. Virgula is invoked as a muse and a companion; she is called on in every poem, as if she were a goddess, friend or lover, someone who offers space when the emptiness becomes too heavy.

Virgula received the Awater Poetry Prize and was nominated for the Ida Gerhardt Poetry Prize and the Herman de Coninck Prize and De Grote Poëzieprijs (Grand Poetry Prize) for best poetry collection 2021.