Steven Van de Putte (b. 1976) holds a degree in Languages and Literature (Latin and Greek) and a Master’s degree in Law (Ghent University). He specialises in the public role of the poet. In 2024, Politeia published his handbook ‘Iedereen stadsdichter’ (Everyone a City Poet), on the collaboration between local authorities and city poets in Flanders and the Netherlands. As an external PhD candidate at Ghent University, he is conducting an international comparative study with the working title ‘The National Poet. A literary-sociological study of the role of the Poet Laureate in multilingual contexts’. His research focuses on Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and South Africa. The supervisors for the doctoral research are Prof. Dr Yves T’Sjoen, Professor of Modern Dutch Literature at Ghent University, and Kila van der Starre, Assistant Professor of Modern Dutch Literature at Utrecht University. The other members of the supervisory committee are Henriette Louwerse (University of Sheffield) and Renée Vulto (Utrecht University).