Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (born 17 January 1968) is a Dutch poet, novelist, polemicist and classical scholar. He was born in Rijswijk, Netherlands, and studied, lived and worked in Leiden, and he moved permanently to Genoa, Italy, in 2008. Biography Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer was born on 17 January 1968 in Rijswijk in the Netherlands. He made his début in 1998 with a collection entitled Of the Square Man, containing of fifty-odd highly individualistic poems. This debut won him the 1999 C. Buddingh’ poetry prize. As well as a poet, Pfeijffer was for some time a Greek scholar on the staff of Leiden University. He wrote a dissertation on the poetry of Pindar and published a history of classical literature for the general reader. Regarding his own poetry he has outspoken views, not just in his oft-quoted programmatic opening poem "Farewell Dinner," in which he dismisses the hermetic Hans Faverey and calls for "butter-baked images / and bulimic verse". Pfeijffer's poetic polemics leave no room for doubt as to what kind of poetry he prefers. He feels akin to Lucebert, and he abhors the paper verse of introverted hermetics and meek-hearted dreamers ("stumble, stiff romantic, mumble on"). Poetry should have life, and preferably, in Lucebert’s words, "life in full". Thus Pfeijffer, the "gleaner of contrivances," quotes not only Pindar and Ezra Pound, Horace and Lucebert, Sophocles, Derek Walcott, Herman Gorter, Hans Faverey, Martinus Nijhoff and Gerard Reve, but comic book characters as well. He not only writes about the political martyr Ken Saro Wiwa, but also about C&A sweaters and Fiat Croma, barcodes, canned beer, butt-tight and garamond ten-point italic. The poet neither lacks humor or self-mockery, nor seriousness for that matter, witness his hotly tender love poems: "and though I sang and gave over my loins / and you failed to scorch my senses / I should be useless white on white." Awards and honors 1999: C. Buddingh' Prize (1999) for Of the Square Man 2002: (2002) for Rupert 2003: (or Seghers Literatuurprijs) (2003) for Rupert 2005: over 2004 2014: Tzumprijs voor de beste literaire zin over 2013 2014: Libris Prize for La Superba 2015: for La Superba 2015: Jan Campert Prize for Idyllen 2015: Awater Poëzieprijs for Idyllen 2015: for Gelukszoekers and Idyllen ant the colums in NRC Next. 2015: VSB Poetry Prize for Idyllen 2015: Awater Poëzieprijs for Idyllen 2016: VSB Poetry Prize for Idyllen 2016: Proza prize from