In this program, we explore the relationship between a poet\u2019s voice and the necessity of using it. Poet and lawyer Yousra Benfquih poses two sharp questions: If poets don\u2019t speak out, who will? And can we expect courage from them? Three poets from diverse backgrounds, Yousra Benfquih (Belgium), Hendri Yulius Wijaya (Indonesia), and Iya Kiva (Ukraine), engage in conversation around these questions and discuss if and how poetry can respond to urgent social and personal issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"event_date":"2026-06-06","footnotes":""},"venue":[267],"event_type":[105],"route":[],"class_list":["post-915","event","type-event","status-publish","hentry","venue-lantarenvenster-6","event_type-program"],"acf":{"event_location":267,"event_location_source":{"label":"Locatie","type":"taxonomy","formatted_value":267},"event_category":[105],"event_category_source":{"label":"Categorie","type":"taxonomy","formatted_value":[105]},"language":["english"],"language_source":{"label":"Voertaal","type":"select","formatted_value":[{"value":"english","label":"Engels"}]},"spoken_languages":"English","spoken_languages_source":{"label":"Gesproken talen","type":"text","formatted_value":"English"},"language_label":"spoken","language_label_source":{"label":"Label","type":"select","formatted_value":"Gesproken talen"},"subtitles":[],"subtitles_source":{"label":"Boventiteling","type":"select","formatted_value":[]},"has_interpreter":false,"has_interpreter_source":{"label":"Tolk NGT\/Schrijftolk","type":"true_false","formatted_value":false},"poets":[224,221,705],"poets_source":{"label":"Dichters","type":"relationship","formatted_value":[{"ID":224,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2026-02-19 16:38:50","post_date_gmt":"2026-02-19 15:38:50","post_content":"\n
Hendri Yulius Wijaya (1990, IDN) is this year\u2019s Artist in Residence at Poetry International and is one of the few openly queer poets in Indonesia, as well as a key voice in Southeast Asia\u2019s queer discourse. Under Indonesia\u2019s conservative regime, that takes a special kind of courage. Wijaya storms that breach with pen in hand and heart on sleeve. In his work he offers a glimpse into how the norms imposed by family, community and country can constrict, and where he finds room or carves it out for himself. Always with the same resolve to simply be who he is and love who he wants.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How you might know this poet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Iya Kiva (1984, UKR) is one of today\u2019s most important Ukrainian poets and documents war from the inside. All the worst-case scenarios you might see listed on an emergency-preparedness leaflet, we live through in Kiva\u2019s poems. With clear, rhythmic verse, she shows how war seeps into everything: into her memories, her everyday actions, even into language itself. Her poetry is testimony, to record what might later be rewritten. It is her way of offering a consoling voice to her compatriots.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n