We’ve Come a Long Way

“The female Johnny Cash—powerful, deeply personal and and fueled by a rare political commitment.”
Stefan Hertmans, award-winning novelist and essayist

“An exquisite collection—intensely personal, vulnerable, and raw.”
Radio 1, Dutch Broadcasting Channel

“Melodious poems, rich in imagery.”
Algemeen Dagblad, Dutch newspaper

“Through a series of sharp observations, Carmien Michels constructs a new and haunting world.”
De Volkskrant, Dutch newspaper

“The collection features a powerful progression as a child comes of age, exploring relationships with family, ancestors, friends, the city, the world, and love. She achieves this through lines that are as lucid as they are alienating, as vivid as they are enigmatic, and even surreal. Michels can whip up language into a frenzy, especially when she is angry. Her work is evocative and blunt all at once.”
Trouw, Dutch newspaper

“She has a feel for rhythm, timing and drama. Her lyrics are as idiosyncratic as her style of recitation.”
Het Parool, Dutch newspaper

“It is crystal clear that Michels understands the art of making poignant observations.”
De Standaard, Flemish newspaper

“Michels’s poems testify to a searing commitment. Often beginning with a personal observation, they spare nothing and no one and drive a finger directly into the festering wound.”
Poëziekrant, Flemish poetry magazine

“Carmien Michels succeeds in giving the language in her collection real flesh and blood.”
De Morgen, Flemish newspaper 

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Carmien Michels (Belgium, 1990) is a poet, author and performer. In 2016 she won both the Dutch and the European Poetry Slam Championships and came in third at the World Cup in Paris. Collaborating with various artists, she has been touring ever since. In 2017-19, she was part of the European programme CELA (Connecting Emerging Literary Artists), and in 2019 she joined the European poetry platform Versopolis. Alongside poetry, she has published two novels as well as the story collection Fathers Who Mourn, which was shortlisted for five literary prizes and awarded the BNG Bank Literary Prize 2022 and the Inktaap. Excerpts of her novels, short stories and poems have been published in 15 languages. Michels is the founder and coordinator of the Watlab in Antwerp, where she works with 30 other literary artists. Since 2024 she has curated the Silence Festival in the Park Abbey of Heverlee.

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Michele Hutchison was born in the UK and has lived in the Netherlands since 2004. She was educated at UEA, Cambridge, and Lyon universities. She translates literary fiction and nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, and children’s books. She won the 2020 International Booker Prize for her translation of The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld, the Vondel Prize for her translation of Sander Kollard’s Stage Four, and the Sophie Castille Award for her translation of Barbara Stok’s The Philosopher, The Dog and The Wedding. In 2025, she shared the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction with Lucas Rijneveld for My Heavenly Favourite and her translation of We Are Light by Gerda Blees was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. Her own works include the co-authored The Happiest Kids in the World, and the poetry pamphlet The North Wind.