POETRY
First poetry collection
A PLACE TO LAND is the new poetry collection by novelist and poet Tineke Van der Eecken, published by Mulla Mulla Press. Within a suite of 74 poems, the poet explores the notion of 'place' - within a family, within an intimate relationship, within a country and within our world. This exploration is sometimes challenging and uncomfortable: what is it like to exist within a world that holds dysfunction and abuse? What is it like to be a European woman in an African country facing upheaval? What do we become from these experiences? How do these experiences resonate when landing in Western Australia? These themes are not new, yet the poet speaks with a new voice. As a multi-lingual, well-travelled writer, Van der Eecken offers insights and understandings that only one with diverse cultural immersion could produce.
Scott Patrick Mitchell SPM
"these are portals into worlds beyond our own, yet they are worlds Van der Eecken guides us through with a paternal love"
Liana joy
christensen
"Her poetry is a raft — both frail and sturdy — that can cross the treacherous and fertile oceans of nature and culture. "
Annamaria
Weldon
“the range of subjects is vast, born of lived experience.
These poems delight in the discipline of details: forensic and personal.”
Self published poetry zines:
Language - Spoken Poems
'Language' is a collection of performance poems, many of them multi-lingual. It includes the title poem 'Parole' and the 'Ode to Brel' which won the 2012 OOTA Split Ink Award for Poetry. 'For Seraphine' also features in this collection. This is a poem Tineke wrote for in honour of the many civil casualties in Burundi and Rwanda where she lived and worked in the early 1990s.
Penelope's Dreams - Poems
'Penelope's Dreams' is a collection of poems (in English) and photos by Tineke inspired by the Odyssea and a trip to Delphi as part of "The Delphi Project."
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"A journey of this kind offers the reader a catharsis – an ancient Greek word that we are fond of and which our western consciousness is perhaps wired for. The journey from pity and fear to renewal and restoration. Tineke is the queen of travel, she knows that a journey is a necessary catharsis. And this one you can hold in the palm of your hand." Jennifer Kornberger.
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The quote is from the launch speech in Perth by Jennifer Kornberger, and is published in full as an introduction to the book.