Writer Pim Lammers opened the book ball tonight. At the start of the party, he read the poem Stolen on the stage of the ITA theater in Amsterdam. It is the text that the author, who grew up in Norg, wanted to recite later this year during the Children’s Book Week.
At the beginning of February, 29-year-old Lammers returned the assignment for the Children’s Book Week poem after receiving death threats. These followed after online outrage over an old story the author had written for adults in the past. It was his first public appearance since early February.
Stolen is about the love of parents for their children and the love between siblings. Book dome CPNB, which organizes both the Book Week and the Book Ball, says that Lammers recited the poem once. The author had already written the text when he decided to return the assignment on February 4 because of the death threats.
He never wants to experience what Lammers has experienced again. “And I also want my colleagues never to have to go through this.” That there are people who will go to great lengths to stop him still frightens him. “When at some point the people around me were also mentioned, my loved ones, I decided to withdraw.”
“My work is extremely important to me, but the safety and well-being of the people around me are even more important. I will always prefer that safety to writing a poem.”
The investigation into the threats is still ongoing. Police now have three suspects in mind.