SPOKEN WORD
Since 2024, I’ve been performing spoken word poetry in the Netherlands and Germany. I explore identity, migration, and loss in the shape of very long poems that seem to make people cry.
I was nominated Poet of the Year at the 2nd Queer & Feminist Poetry Awards [Nov 2023] hosted by Unwanted Words, and commissioned to perform at Asian Poetry Night (Rotterdam, March 2024), Sonntags Club Berlin (May 2025), and at Kunstverein Stuttgart (June/July 2026).
I haven’t published my poetry anywhere since awards and competitions bar pre-published pieces, including on personal blogs. If you heard a piece you’d like to keep a copy for yourself, email me and I’ll share it with you.
Photo by Unwanted Words
STORYTELLING
I’m one half of Burta Qollective together with friend and artist-researcher Ioana Lupașcu [burta: “belly” in Romanian; bureuda in Korean means “to be full”. It just works]. We explore narratives of migration from a queer feminist lens through ordinary objects, simple language, and a love for (making/sharing) food.
In November 2024, we published our first story, The Case of the Suitcase, in The Spoon, a Rotterdam community newsletter published by Soupspoon Collective. In Nov-Dec 2025, we published our first zine, also called The Case of the Suitcase, at the Riso and Friends residency in Rijeka, Croatia. [website | Instagram].
We’ve presented (really, performed] our zine at:
- Feb 21: Soft launch at Blind Date with a Book (Kunstbar, The Hague), organized by The Hague Creators
- Apr 3: Book launch at Kiosk Rotterdam, together with our publisher Ana Labudović
Fun fact: We met on a dating app but chose to nurture a friendship based on words and drawings.
Photo by Ioana Lupașcu
Jiye Seong-Yu 