Peter Knoester

Peter Knoester
Birth date	12 September 1935
Nationality	Dutch-born Canadian
Occupation	Author
website	https://peterknoester.com/

Peter Knoester is a Dutch-born Canadian writer of poetry and short prose based in Hamilton, Ontario. He has published several collections, including Poems and Stories for Children (2009), Poems and Stories from the Heart (2010), Poems and Stories from a Prisoner's Troubled Heart (2011), The Urge Within Me (2018), and his latest book, Thoughts and Poetry on Paper (2025).

Early Life and Career

Publisher materials for Thoughts and Poetry on Paper describe Knoester's outlook as shaped by childhood in the Netherlands during the Second World War, including the 1944–1945 Hunger Winter. The listing also notes periods in the merchant marine and a later civilian career, as well as a religious upbringing that informs much of his writing.

His religious upbringing, along with the passing of his wife in 2003, is cited by the publisher as a direct inspiration for Thoughts and Poetry on Paper, which—as of 2025—is his latest book. After he retired, Knoester started a hobby farm and began writing; publisher information adds that, after several books, he "shows no signs of slowing down."                                                                                  

Critical Reception

Independent reception includes a review of Poems and Stories from a Prisoner's Troubled Heart in Foreword Reviews (Clarion). The critic, Karen Rigby, wrote that the volume aims to give voice to people at society's margins and repeatedly invokes ideas of contrition, salvation, and renewal; she also noted limitations in language and characterization and assigned the book a rating of two out of five.