The Inside of a Stone

After first making her mark as a compelling performer, Belgian poet Charlotte Van den Broeck was acclaimed as one of Europe’s most innovative and original new voices in poetry. Her first two collections, Chameleon and Nachtroer, were published together in David Colmer’s English translation by Bloodaxe in 2020. Whereas those earlier books often return to childhood and youth in urban and European landscapes, the key sequence of The Inside of a Stone concentrates on desert landscapes and womanhood – and the emotional resonance between the two – while reconceptualising their metaphorical relationship. With close observation and striking images she engages with the arid, eroded landscape. In other poems she considers sexual violence while watching a pair of mating turtles, imagines an alternative emotional life for Ilsebill, the fisherman’s wife from the Grimm fairytale, and explores medieval poet Hildegard of Bingen’s magical healing. From the reviews in Belgium and The Netherlands of The Inside of a Stone: ‘In lines that are graceful yet urgent, Charlotte Van den Broeck reveals the wounds in landscapes, animals and people, women.’ – Trouw ‘Charlotte Van den Broeck captures intense experiences in living language.’ – Trouw ‘Charlotte Van den Broeck dismantles herself and the world.’ – Volkskrant ‘With this collection, Charlotte Van den Broeck shows the limitations of the female image and breaks through them with her poems.’ – NRC