About
- LEZENSWAARD / WORTH READING - International Multilingual Anthology - World literature - Book Excerpts - Poems
- A LIRE - Anthologie internationale multilingue - Littérature universelle - Morceaux choisis - Poèmes
- LESENSWERT - Internationale mehrsprachige Anthologie - Weltliteratur - Textauszüge - Gedichte
REVIEW
by an online American literary magazine, February 2, 2026"The free website Lezenswaard / Worth Reading welcomes you the way a reading room does: a warm yellow background, black type, and nothing tugging at your sleeve. This simplicity is intentional, and you feel it the moment you start clicking around. Everything is just a few steps away - authors, texts, translations. The 'You may also like' suggestions feel less like algorithms and more like a librarian pointing you toward a shelf you might enjoy. There's no pressure, no hidden agenda. What struck me the most is what the site refuses to do. It doesn't interpret the literature for you or tell you what to think or why a text matters. It trusts you - the reader - to meet the works on your own terms. Lezenswaard / Worth Reading isn't flashy, but it's generous. It gives literature space to breathe and gives readers the freedom to wander. It's one of the more thoughtful literary corners of the internet."
NAVIGATION GUIDE
° Every time you click "Home" on the Lezenswaard website, five short reading excerpts of several authors at random are shown under "HIGHLIGHTED".
° You can choose a language and select the form of literature: poetry or prose.
° The authors are listed in alphabetical order. Scroll the list and search for the author of your choice. When clicking the author's name, a selection of his/her work appears as well as four short excerpts of related authors at the bottom of the page under "YOU MAY ALSO LIKE ...".
° You can also look up an author's Name, a title or a short phrase by entering it in the SEARCH Engine.
SELECTION CRITERIA
All authors included in this anthology are considered worthwhile. Some are additionally marked with stars:
= very good,
= excellent,
= outstanding,
= among the very best.
Selections are guided by the Editor's personal curation, the author's cultural legacy and the intrinsic literary value, i.e.works that are well written, evocative, empathic, gripping, moving, original, timeless or universally relevant as well as works of significant social and historical importance.
DATA
5 950 authors (of which 1 300 Dutch-speaking poets & 1050 English poets) are selected. To date the website www.Lezenswaard.be has had 724 000 pageviews and 417 000 visits from literature lovers all over the world. Note: Dutch, English, French & German texts are always shown in the original language.
CONTACT
Use the Contact page for having a notable text/translation added, when a text is inaccurate or attributed to a wrong author. Requests for admission or useful suggestions for improvements/additions to this anthology are always welcome. Lezenswaard is on FACEBOOK too, followed by nearly 8 500 people, see https://www.facebook.com/lezenswaard
OTHER HANDY & FREE LITERATURE WEBSITES
Multilingual
- www.babelmatrix.org
- www.gutenberg.org
- openlibrary.org
- www.goodreads.com
- romenu.eu/category/literatuur/
English
- poetryfoundation.org
- www.poemhunter.com
- www.bartleby.com
- www.literature.org
- www.poetry-archive.com
- allpoetry.com/famous-poems
Nederlands
- www.schrijversgewijs.be
- www.gedichten.nl
- www.dbnl.org
- www.leestafel.info
- www.literatuurgeschiedenis.org
Deutsch
- www.gedichte-lyrik-online.de
- gedichte.xbib.de
- www.aphorismen.de
- www.zgedichte.de/gedichte.html
- "die schönste deutschen gedichte"
Français
DISCLAIMER
LEZENSWAARD / WORTH READING is a private, non-commercial initiative curated by Z.A.J. De Meester, Webmaster-Editor. All rights reserved ©. This exclusively online Anthology of poetry and & short prose excerpts is intended solely for educational or informative purposes. It aims to comply with the Belgian Copyright Law, Art. 21,1., which aligns with international law on the protection of literary works.
Compilation Copyright: The concept and contents of this website may not be commercially exploited by third parties. Identical text selections may be stored or reproduced in social or traditional media publications, provided proper attribution to the website is given.
Content & Ownership: All texts shown remain the copyright of their respective owners. The statements or opinions expressed in the poems or book excerpts shown in this anthology reflect only the views of the authors mentioned. Any referenced author or rightful claimant is entitled to have the author's entry removed upon simple request. The Editor reserves the right to add or remove a text or a block of text by an author if he/she deems it necessary; consequently, the content of this website is continuously updated. If the origin of a poem or excerpt is unknown, it marks "Anonymous", if the origin is unclear, the presumed author's name is followed by a question mark.