Jos Versteegen

For many years, during the 1980s and 1990s, Amsterdam rivalled with San Francisco and Berlin for being the Gay Capital of the world. However, with the turn of the century, Amsterdam as a Gay Capital quickly lost ground, and particularly over the past few years have seen the rise of Barcelona, while the gay scene in Amsterdam has withered.

Nachtkermis by Jos Versteegen is a book-length poem celebrating the hay-days of gay life in Amsterdam during the 1990s. To readers familiar with the gay scene in Amsterdam during those years, the poem provides a vivid picture, making the scene almost tangible. The poem includes various well-known landmarks, such as cafe De Jaren and RoB, while the urban landscape of the inner city of Amsterdam forms the background. Some people, such as Fabiola are mentioned, but mostly the poem provides generec descriptions of boys, men and transvestites as peopled the scene at the time. The event described could be the 1994 Gay Pride or any edition of the annual Koninginnedag (Queen's Day), with its abundant, carnevalesque atmosphere, celebrating not just the Queen's birthday, but the liberal gay scene of Amsterdam's queens in general.… (mehr)