Dr. Kila van der Starre is specialised in modern and contemporary Dutch language poetry. In 2021 she defended her dissertation Poëzie buiten het boek. De circulatie en het gebruik van poëzie (Poetry Off the Page. The Circulation and Use of Poetry, with an English summary), which is available online as a free open access e-book. Her main supervisor was prof. dr. Geert Buelens and her co-supervisor was dr. Laurens Ham. Van der Starre received PhD funding from NWO ('Promoties in de geesteswetenschappen'). She is interested in the ways people use poetry in their everyday lives, in poetry education and in the relationship between the medium of poetry and the meaning of poetry.

In her dissertation Van der Starre focuses on poetry in public areas (street poetry), on social media (Instagram poetry), on bodies (poetry tattoos), on objects (poetry products by Plint), on the radio (Candlelight poetry) and connected to live events (poetry in obituaries).

From November 1, 2023, onwards Van der Starre is co-supervisor and daily supervisor in the PhD project 'Nederlandstalige (online) leescultuur en jongeren' at Utrecht University. The main supervisor in that project is Prof.Dr. Els Stronks and the other co-supervisor is Dr. Niels Kerssens. The project connects to the sector plan theme 'Languages and Cultures' and with two of the UU's strategic themes: 'Dynamics of Youth' (especially the subtheme 'Youth Education & Life Skills') and 'Institutions for Open Societies'. In addition, there are connections with the research project 'Platformisation of Education' (within the 'Governing the Digital Society' group). Van der Starre is also co-supervisor in the PhD project ‘Dicht de kloof. Poëzieonderwijs in de bovenbouw van het basisonderwijs en de onderbouw van het voortgezet onderwijs’ by Jet Oosterheert. Prof.dr. Matthijs Warrens (University of Groningen) is the main supervisor in that trajectory and dr. Margreet Luinge (Hanze University of Applied Sciences) is the other co-supervisor.

Since her defense, Van der Starre has focused on researching the history of oral literature in the various Dutch-speaking areas in the world. In 2024 she chaired the P.C. Hooftprijs.

Van der Starre teaches in the BA's Nederlandse Taal en Cultuur, Literatuurwetenschap, Taal- en Cultuurstudies and at University College, and she is involved in the MA Neerlandistiek, MA Literature Today, and in the RMA Nederlandse Literatuur en Cultuur.

Besides working at Utrecht University, Van der Starre is a freelance literary scholar. Please click here for more information.

Photo by Annelies Verhelst.