On Poets' Square in Budva's Old Town, the literary program of XXXVIII festival "Grad Teatar" continued last night, during which poet, essayist and literary critic Nenad Šaponja presented his latest collection of poetry entitled "Psychology of Gravity".
The moderator of the evening was linguist and writer Slavica Perović.
The evening began with a short introduction in which Perović highlighted the key aspects of Nenad Šaponja's biography.
She noted that Šaponja, in addition to having a significant literary career, was also a doctor specializing in neuropsychiatry, which undoubtedly influenced the thematic and philosophical layer of his poetry.
"As a long-time literary critic, Šaponja is known for his stylistic perfection and verse architecture, which sets him apart in contemporary Serbian poetry. His poetry has been translated into many languages and has received a significant number of awards and recognitions," she pointed out.
Perović specifically referred to the title of the collection, which she described as an oxymoron – a combination of psychology and gravity, two seemingly incompatible categories.
"The title poem of the collection is ambiguous and opens up space for different interpretations, from physical laws to a metaphorical understanding of gravity in the context of emotions, relationships, and even death. Šapona's poetry requires reading on a metaphorical level, where each line carries deep symbolism and asks the reader to actively participation in deciphering the meaning," said Perović.
Responding to her presentation, Šaponja emphasized the importance of intuition and feelings in the interpretation of poetry, noting that poets often create works that recognize the invisible, connecting ethics and aesthetics in a way that exceeds the limits of the rational.
"We have some other organs besides these five senses; we have aesthetic organs, we have ethical organs. In some they are stunted, in others they hypertrophy. Those in whom ethics hypertrophy often find it difficult to manage in the modern world, but perhaps they are the ones who nurture their soul in the right way way. We live in a rational world, but there is also an irrational world, a world of impulses, which can be aggressive or good. All of this is great material for the poet, and the poet processes it all in his own poetic way," Šaponja said.
Perović pointed out that, while reading Šaponja's poems, it became clear that we are dealing with a poet who seriously considers each of his poems, each verse, and that his poetry requires reading on a figurative level.
Šaponja emphasized that the poet must be in cooperation with the language, after which Perović read the title poem in English.
During the evening, Šaponja read ten poems from his latest collection, allowing the audience to experience his poetry in an authentic way.
Perović asked Šaponja who is "the other" in his poetry, to which he replied that we are all "others".
"We are the same and different, aren't we? But in poetry and in life we must have a metaphysical interlocutor. Interlocutors change, some last longer, some shorter, but there must be reality, communication and recognition," he pointed out.
The interlocutors agreed that, although Šaponja's poetry is not religious, poetry is their religion and that poetry is the most subtle and best thing we have on Earth.
"A poem doesn't have to be deep; it can be the shallowest and simplest emotion that someone wrote and sent to someone, whether visible or invisible. It's that message in a bottle that was released somewhere and reaches someone. However, no matter how broadly or narrowly we understand the concept of 'the other', he can be a good reader, someone who understands us, or someone who doesn't understand us. Maybe with the help of poetry, someone will understand himself better. My ideal is the non-repetitiveness of poetry, which is read as different every time inexhaustible. Poetry is a linguistic construct of image, sound, rhythm. I've been in a situation many times where I like something, but after discovering all its sides, I don't feel it anymore. The ideal is to keep coming back to the poetry that is always different," Šaponja said.
As he pointed out, his songs are often answers or bypasses with the question posed in the title.
"The title poses a riddle, and the poem is the answer. But not a direct answer, because poetry must not be direct. When the answer is direct, poetry becomes predictable. Just as our soul is elusive, just as we are more than what we seem, so and the verses cannot be focused and indeterminate. Otherwise they would be positivist, and they are, in fact, metaphysical," he emphasized.
Perović asked Šaponja from which source his poetry grows and if there is a poetic organ, to which he replied that if there is an aesthetic organ, then there is also an ethical one.
"This aesthetic organ is characteristic of critics, and I was also a critic. Although I have not been dealing with it for 15 years, I have been dealing with it for about twenty years, and I can confirm that an aesthetic organ exists. I guess then there is also a poetic organ. That immanent it exists in the being, but one has to fight for it. The temptations of the everyday world are great. Is it the well-defended place in the being that pure poetry can come out of? I believe it is .
Perović concluded the evening by pointing out that the collection of poems "Psychology of Gravity" is about the essence of man, regardless of his age.
"Each poem is a compact and condensed whole of meaning, as if it had been cut with a glazier's knife. Even if the poems from this collection were to be found among the verses of other authors, they would stand out as if wearing that diamond cut. The theme of the essence, the poetics of the condensed verse , aesthetics that retain a compressed thought - all this makes Nenad Šaponja's poetry unique and powerful. It combines thought and emotion, reflection and philosophy, with wonder about the mystery of life. Therefore, it is rare and precious," she concluded At the end of the evening, Šaponja read another of his poems, which the audience on Poesnika Square rewarded with great applause.
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