About

—Bookshop

Perdu is the only specialised poetry bookshop in Amsterdam and one of the very few remaining ones in the Netherlands, which makes our continued existence in the city centre extra special. We started in 1984 as a small bookshop in De Pijp, and in 1995 we settled in our beautiful city centre location at Kloveniersburgwal 86. Recently, our bookshop also opened online.

We offer a curated selection of Dutch, English, and translated titles, carefully selected by our dedicated booksellers. Besides recently published work, you will also find in our shop poetry journals and other experimental publications, first editions and special editions, classics, posters, postcards, and other poetry-related gifts and curiosities.

Of course, our bookshop also serves as a cosy reading corner. Our visitors are invited to take a seat at our reading table with a book and a cup of coffee. Our booksellers read and dream (about) poetry and are happy to help you find a new title you didn’t know yet you were looking for.

Bookshop opening hours: Wednesday to Friday 12:00-18:00, Saturday & Sunday 11:00-17:00.

—Theatre & the Avonden

What is now our cherished theatre space used to be the kitchen building and the ‘zusterhuis’ of the Binnengasthuis terrain, complete with high ceiling and skylight. It was built back in 1908, in a Berlage-inspired architecture style, and the original iron trusses, still exposed and visible today, give the space its special atmosphere. Click here for more historical facts :)

Today, we programme our Avonden (‘Evenings’) in this space: readings, performances, lectures, and debates programmed by our own editorial team, located at the intersection of poetry, experimentation, literature, art and philosophy. We programme the Avonden roughly once a week on Friday evenings, and host emerging, local talent as well as internationally known and important writers, thinkers, and artists – always at the lowest possible admission price. Our programmes are in Dutch, English, and other languages too. Our theatre is accessible to wheelchair users and hard-of-hearing visitors, and they are always aimed at appealing to as varied and diverse an audience as possible.

On most other days, we rent the theatre to like-minded organisations, groups, and initiatives. For more information and details on venue hire, click here.

—Publishing house Perdu & Mop Mop Magazine

Perdu’s small publishing house focuses on translating and publishing contemporary experimental poetry, mainly in Dutch. So far, Perdu has published several collections of poetry, including the Atopias series, the Kleuren series and the Sporen series. You can find this wide selection in our bookshop, as well as online.

Mop Mop is Perdu’s multilingual magazine, aiming to disseminate poetry beyond the system of writing careers, networking, and awards. The first edition (2022) was edited by Cato van Schaik and Phil Baber, and features poetry in Dutch and English by Amy De’Ath, Anne Vegter, Astrid Alben, Maria Barnas, Michael Tedja, Peter Manson, Ryan Dobran, and Verity Spott. The magazine was designed by Rietlanden Vrouwenbureau. For this first edition of Mop Mop, they worked with material from Perdu’s archive and incorporated it into their unique design.

Mop Mop 2 (2023) is edited by Cato van Schaik and Oliver J. Taylor. It includes work in Dutch and English by Alara Adilow, Sophie Collins, Maarten van der Graaff, Lisa Jeschke, and Uljana Wolf (translated by Sophie Seita). It is designed by Hannah Machover and Joseph Bradley-Hill. You can find Mop Mop 1 in our bookstore and online. Mop Mop 2 is completely sold out!