Nikšić always had a poetic soul, bohemian ladies, and Vito Nikolić, Dragan Radulović, Milan Dugo Krivokapić and many others worked hard for that.
The tradition is continued by the young poets gathered in the literary club "Poenta Poetika", which operates at the "Zahumlje" JU and was founded two years ago in July on the telephone line Cetinje - Nikšić. Obrad Nenezić and Goran Radojičić decided to provide young poets from Nikšić with a home, a refuge for their verses, but also the opportunity for others to hear the cries of their souls. And they were not wrong to bring poetry back to the city under Trebjes.
"Obrad was also the godfather to the name, which we wanted to let everyone know that the point of our club is to create poetics that would be common to a space and people. Our wish was to make a slightly different story from what we have seen before and to open up space for new people who have potential, knowledge and quality, but did not have the space to appear. By founding the club, we created a space for young poets to become active and express themselves, so that people hear about what they do", Radojičić, president of "Poente Poetika", told "Vijesti".
And they were convinced very quickly that they had maneuvered well. First, they "conquered" the scene of "Zahumlje", then they went on a campaign to Nikšić bars, because their goal was for poetry to reach young people.
"We thought that it was necessary to create interaction between those who write and those who potentially like poetry in places where young people gather. That's what happened. And then we started holding evenings on the plateau in front of the Town Hall, to 'stop' passers-by with verses. According to the opinion of many people and cultural institutions in Montenegro, all this has produced results", Radojičić believes.
"Wherever I went, I found that a poet had already been there," wrote Sigmund Freud. The same is the case with the poets of "Poetika". They conquered part by part of the territory and thus dominated the new Nikšić literary scene.
"In March, we started with the 'Days of Montenegrin Poetry' event, and after the summer vacation, we continue the poetry propaganda in schools. We have seen that children are only familiar with Montenegrin poetry that they find in reading books. These are the lyrics of Vito Nikolić, Dragan Radulović, Les Ivanović and Rist Ratković. Montenegrin literature is small, but there are plenty of shining examples. Everything did not start with Njegoš, nor does it end with him, no matter how masterful he was," said the president of "Poetika".
Instead of the poet writing the poetry, the poetry writes the poet
The transition and the "years eaten by locusts" disrupted the value system and poetry lost its rightful place. Perhaps also because, as Radojicic said, "poetry is high art."
"It must be supported by a value system. The time that caused the decline of the value system meant that poetry was less read or less valued, but I don't think it was written less. People have always written poetry in the corner of their home and now it's time for it to come out and see the light of day. I hope that with the establishment of 'Poenta Poetics', poetry has been given the opportunity to return to the position it had before. I don't want to exaggerate the importance of the literary club, but some things change and poetry today in Nikšić has a different position than it had before. And what is particularly significant is that young people are the bearers of this return of poetry", pointed out Radojičić.
He is aware that today we have a hyperproduction of writers, that the Montenegrin market is too small for such a large number of authors, and that in this chaos, talented poets often cannot come to the fore. That's why clubs like "Poente Poetica" are needed in order to find a space for quality to surface because, as he said, it's not the trace left by the author that matters, but the trace left by the works.
"Today we don't have literary criticism, at a literary evening you can't hear that something is not good or what it is not good. Praises are written about any work, it is spoken in superlatives. It seems to me that by raising the value system, educating people and wanting them to stand out in some way, that too will be changed. These clubs are an opportunity for someone who is talented to emerge," said Radojicic.
Everything survives, except for the typographical error
There is a whole company of Poente Poetika poets who have been awarded at state and regional literary meetings. And 21 of them, out of over 40 members of the club, were awarded with the publication of verses in the collection "Mozaik", which was published in March of this year.
"A small number of members, not counting established poets, published a book. Most of them had no published lyrics until the release of 'Mozaik'. That collection is their beginning, and we will see in what way and to what extent it will leave a mark. By publishing this collection, which is a witness of a time, all authors entered the history of Montenegrin literature. In a way, a poet feels like a real poet when he sees his verses printed", said the editor of "Mozaik", who hopes that the second volume will be an opportunity for other members of the club to publish poems as well.
It is not unknown that, as he pointed out, the best poets in history were created in circles, taverns, so why not "Zahumlje" and "Poenta Poetika" be a springboard for young poets.
"If the day is known by the morning - there is hope for the Montenegrin poetic scene. It seems to me that the individuals from 'Poenta' managed to break through, find a slightly wider place in those certain frameworks, and the guarantee of success is quality. We already have a poet who will surely leave a mark and the quality of that poetry will come to the fore at some point. It is important to form Nikšić's youth literary scene", concluded Radojičić, and one of his poetic role models, Branko Miljković, wrote that "the poet has always been the one who heals the disease in others from which he himself is dying".
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