Luuk Gruwez debuted in 1973 at a young age with the collection of poems, Stofzuigergedichten (Vacuum Cleaner Poems), sonorous, lively poems striking in their oral character. He is, in fact, more of a singer than an artist. Gruwez' work does not shy away from heavy emotions. His poetry is a plea for sensuality, daring to be different, for emotional courage, for lyricism. Beauty is a compensation for deprivation, a haven of rest, tenderness and harmony. He attempts to reconcile eternity and time in the paradox of language. Along with other poets, such as Miriam Van hee, he is considered one of the major representatives of New Romanticism, a literary trend that injected new life into Flemish poetry in the late nineteen-seventies. In diametric opposition to the experimental art of poetry of the preceding years, poetry was written about love, death and human failings. About his earlier work, he has this to say: "When I started out as a poet, I was a dandy, often writing about myself. It was a narcissistic me, typical of every self-respecting poet. Slowly, that me developed into a more universal we."