Still Life

Bernlef's secret is in the way he looks at things. His attention to the ordinary, to the marginal, the so-called extra literary has not only enlarged the realm of the poetic but challenges the hierarchies and preconceived notions about what is or is not considered literary ... Bernlef's attitude towards poetry has remained virtually constant, though down the years one can discern a slight shift from inspired down-to-earthness to that of down-to-earth inspiration. ? Dutch critic Hans Kloos