Kira Wuck

​Nocturnal Animals
 
I ironed out the creases in my legs
lived with you
like a heartbeat
 
if we didn’t set the bar too high
we were reasonably happy
we ate carrots every other day to stay healthy
compensating for the lack of daylight
 
when everyone was asleep you got out Dostoyevsky and whisky
 
at night in a tiny bathroom we developed photographs
on our knees, as though saying a prayer
the images gave you exactly enough distance
to be able to care for people

Kira Wuck grew up in Amsterdam, but feels at home at the absurdity and melancholy of the Nordic countries. She studied art education and creative writing in Amsterdam. She won the national poetry slam championship of the Netherlands (2012). And for her debut collection of poems, Finnish girls, she got the Lucy B. en C.W. van der Hoogt-price 2013. An incentive award which is awarded every year. She also got the Jo Peters poetry prize for best debut and got nominated for the C.Buddingh' prize.
 
Her collection of short stories Emergency landing (2016) got nominated for the J.M.A. Biesheuvelprijs for best collection of stories 2016. Some stories were also published in Germany and London in literary magazines.
 
In 2018 her second collection of poems The sea is hungry got published. She also wrote a novel ‘The Marbleking’ in 2021 and in 2024 Cowdays her last collection of poems was published. Her collections of poems were also published in Italy, Germany and Buenos Aires. 

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