| Astrid Alben | |
| Birth Name: | Astrid Reijna van Baalen |
| Nationality: | Dutch |
| Occupation: | Poet, editor, translator |
| Years Active: | 2007 - present |
| Website: | www.astridalben.com |
Astrid Alben is a Dutch-born British poet, editor and translator. She is the author of several poetry collections, and her poems have been translated into many languages, including Chinese, Maltese, Slovene and Romanian.[1] Alben often appears at literary festivals throughout Europe,[2] [3] including the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival.[4]
Alben was the co-founder and artistic director of the arts and sciences initiative PARS between 2002 and 2018,[5] curating site-specific events which combined theatre, art installations and scientific experiments, in spaces including the Serpentine Galleries[6] and Central Saint Martins in London, and the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. She was elected chair of Poetry London in 2021[7] and is Commissioning Editor for Literature in Translation for Prototype Publishing.[8]
Alben was born in Loosdrecht, the Netherlands, and was raised in Lagos, Nigeria, and Hawkhurst, Kent, where she attended Cranbrook Grammar School. Abandoning a law degree at Leiden University, she switched to studying English literature and philosophy at Edinburgh University. She divides her time between London and Amsterdam and is married to the British poet Philip Hancock.[9]
Alben is the author of four collections of poetry. She also curated and edited the anthology series Findings on... and curates site-specific events combining theatre, art installations, and scientific experiments. Her poems, reviews, and essays have been featured in many anthologies, including The Times Literary Supplement,[10] Granta[11] and Poetry Review.[12]
Her translation of Island mountain glacier (Dutch: Eiland berg gletsjer) by Anne Vegter won an English PEN Translates Award in 2021.[18] [19] [20] She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Plainspeak was described by SPAMzine as reclaiming "the radical possibility of re-inventing ourselves through new and surprising language, which, she shows us, can be done just by speaking in the clearest, plainest form."[21] Little Dead Rabbit, a collaboration with graphic designer Zigmunds Lapsa, was described as "an innovative combination of concrete poetry and abstract handmade die cuts."[22]