‘De Poezenkrant’ ends after 50 years. Magazine maker Piet Schreuders explains why

An embroidered cat stares at us inscrutably from the cover of The Poezenkrant number 70, which will be available on newsstands from this week. Next to the cat it says: ‘Red one in a suitcase’, ‘Lying alert’ and the intriguing headline: ‘Cat can stay away longer than it lives.’ The Poezenkrant is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. That is exceptionally long for a magazine that has been created all this time by one man: designer and magazine maker Piet Schreuders.

The anniversary will take place in silence because Schreuders is quitting. The magazine presents this big shock for loyal readers as casually as possible. A tiny footnote on the first page simply states: “*Last issue.” Time for an in-depth interview with the man behind the institute.

The very last Poezenkrant, number 70

Is De Poezenkrant even about cats?

“Probably not. It’s about cats, but you can equally rightly say that it’s not about cats. The magazine has of course gone through a lot of development. Look, I have the first numbers here. Then you think: well, that looks a bit awkward. All done by hand. Because my first idea was: What happens when cats make their own newspaper? Cats can’t actually do anything. They can’t talk. And I don’t think they can type either. But suppose the two of them sit down at a kitchen table and start making a newspaper, then it will look a bit clumsy. It started with news about cats. But I quickly abandoned that idea.”

What is it about then?

“It struck me that people who write about cats use a special, self-invented language that is actually only reserved for their cats. It is soft, ironic, loving, it brings you into the most intimate circle of people. You saw that with WF Hermans (the writer was a source of inspiration and regular contributor, ed.) and also with ordinary readers. When you print that in a magazine, it has a strange effect. It contains details from private life that you normally do not reveal. But in the context of the cat universe that is possible. It became a way of looking at the world, from the cat’s perspective.”

Poezenkrant number 33, 1985

That appealed to many people, who bombarded Schreuders for half a century with drawings and letters and requests to become a member of The Poezenkrant. “You cannot become a member of a magazine, only a subscriber. It is not an association. But the fact that they wanted to be members showed that they belonged to the community The Poezenkrant wanted to hear. I have created other magazines, but I have never experienced the development of such an involved community around a magazine. That’s why it has The Poezenkrant been around for so long, I think. I didn’t want to let the readers down.”

The loyal contributors started writing in the style of The Poezenkrant. A self-reinforcing effect. “Fixed expressions were introduced, such as ‘weird places’ and ‘boom boom with the feet’. Or take collecting whiskers. I write about one crazy person who does that, and then ten people respond who do that too. That will also be quite a discussion. Everyone thinks he is alone in his deviation, but then it turns out that there is a leaf that addresses that. It is for a community of enthusiasts who find each other in the magazine. The Poezenkrant also eliminates loneliness.”

The first Poezenkrant, 1974

If it’s all about people, could the magazine also be about dogs?

“No, dogs have a personality. Cats remain a mystery. The magazine is about people who try in vain to understand their cat and project everything onto that cat. They never stop talking about their cats because they only skim past them. It’s about the people, but that cat has to sit opposite them. Otherwise nothing will happen.”

Why are you stopping?

“I think The Poezenkrant has had its time. The internet is already clogged with cats. And what I add is not so much more. I feel like I’ve done it all. It’s starting to bother me a bit, I say very softly. I would rather not upset the many loyal enthusiasts, but at some point you have to be hard, also with yourself. Personally, I think things should stop.”

Magazine maker and designer Piet Schreuders: ‘The internet is clogged with cats.’