Poets should not be coddled

"Dictators have passed, but poets have remained. It's in vain Avgust banished Ovid. Ovid's poems outlived Augustus, and many poets outlived many Augustus," the poet told "Vijesti" Miraš Martinović on the occasion of World Poetry Day, which is celebrated on March 21.

Big day - Poetry Day, he adds and points out that poetry lives even when it seems that it is not there.

"Poetry has its day of long duration, from the first words that echoed from Genesis and the biblical books to the present day and all those to come. She is the only thing that does not age and does not pass away, eternally young she rejuvenates generations... Every time is recognized in poetry, just as poetry is recognized in time, and even in that 'time of scarcity', as the poet calls it Helderlin, a time of emptiness and non-events, as he lived and as he experienced it. And in such a time, great poetry was created," he points out.

Authors without special status and position

When asked in what atmosphere poets, as well as lovers and admirers of poetry in Montenegro, welcome the day that celebrates verses and their authors this year, Martinović says:

"Poets should not be coddled, they do not need any special status. What is valuable just finds a way", he says and lists a number of examples from antiquity to the present day, and then comes to our climate.

"In Montenegro - nothing special, when it comes to poetry, poets and poetry - no special status and position. And why statuses and positions? It is important that a good book, good poetry happens, and that certainly happens. Not always and not often, but it happens... And books go to those who expect them, find them. The reader and the book always find themselves somewhere, on a certain day, on a road, at an intersection, in a mountain or a city, in a busy or deserted place," says Martinović.

One of the leading poets of the younger generation, member of the Young Writers' Forum of KIC "Budo Tomović". Barbara Delac, says: "As far as poetry is concerned, it is on the margins, just like other literary genres that are not recognized, nor recognized to the same extent, in relation to prose (specifically: the novel). It also gives poetry a kind of freedom. Those who write do not do it for market, ideological or any other reasons, but from the need to communicate with modern times, they seek their own expression to talk about the topics they are thinking about. Whether it's about some universal themes that are refracted through the personal and collective, or about questions that have a clear context of the time and place we live in, they uncompromisingly explore the language and possibilities of art. However, authors, no matter how internationally recognized they are, not only cannot make a living from their writing, but their status as artists is not regulated in any way".

A fresh, rich and modern scene

Delac for "Vijesti" announces the "Generacije" forum, which will be held tonight at the "Budo Tomović" KIC at 19:XNUMX p.m. In addition to Delac, the following will also speak about the contemporary Montenegrin poetry scene: Pavle Goranović, Aleksandar Bečanović i Jana Radicevic, who will read his poetry at the end of the program.

"With the new generation of young poets whose poetics are very different, and to which I myself belong, I think that the poetry scene has been refreshed and enriched. Tonight, at the 'Generations' forum, we will talk about the mutual relationship between different poetic generations, their position according to the poetic tradition and the possible influence of each on the other," says Delac.

She adds that the contemporary Montenegrin poetry scene has managed to avoid the trap of small ones, in which poetic voices (start to) resemble each other.

Martinović says that he occasionally follows young Montenegrin poets and believes that thanks to them, modern poetry is born in Montenegro.

"Although poetry is not a trend, it is an impulse from deep within. At least that's how I see it. These people should be helped by having books printed for them. I remember this time, and that memory is inevitable, when the books appeared in the 'Grlica' edition in the late sixties and early seventies: Ranko Jovović, Miodrag Tripković, Slobodan Jovalekić, Miodrag Miško Vujisić, it was a great event and a solemn hour in Montenegrin modern poetry. We, who were somewhat younger than the aforementioned poets, carried those books as something sacred, we knew them by heart. Back then, we breathed poetry like air. I hope that there are still such young poets in Montenegro. And I want them to be there," he says.

Hyperpublishing on the scene

When it comes to poetry readers, Delac says that they must be passionate researchers in order to find interesting authors in domestic literary production, where everything is published and promoted.

"In addition, they must also be unwavering in their search for books that interest them, because contemporary creativity, especially poetry, is unacceptably not distributed in bookstores," she points out.

"Books can be published by anyone, with or without recommendations. Hyperproduction is on stage. But even in that multitude, a valuable book is known and can be singled out. Every great book has magic, that magic opens the way for it. A great book is carried by a great idea. Message! I will mention the case Juan Rulfo and his novel 'Pedro Paramo', which is no larger than a hundred pages. Marks read that book in one night in Paris, and then memorized it. From that book and that tiny grain, the great Spanish-American literature was born, Marques would say later. Rulfo remained humble and aloof even though he experienced world fame, but he remained in one office until the end to work as a clerk, bookkeeper. He also collected 16 stories and published 'The Valley on Fire'. His friends urged him to continue writing and just write, and he smiled at that and retorted with the words: 'Apparently I wrote two good books, you want me to write a third bad one... You won't live to see it'. And they didn't," says Martinović.

Delac agrees that hyper-publishing is one of the problems that poets face.

"Sometimes it seems that more people write than read, but this is not the case only in literature. Quality lags behind quantity and fails to keep up with market demands that impose different standards. This is exactly why we need contests, awards, criticism, and the like," she says.

Poetry is essence and existence

Throughout the history of art, the attitude towards poetry and language has changed, and it was precisely this that defined the differences of the epochs, explains Delać further and reveals what her attitude towards lyrics is.

"I write about things that I think about, and these are often social issues that provoke or depress me. I try to search for new forms of expression, explore and examine language and play with rhythm. As I believe that language is always political, I am happy to use that fact in order to examine social patterns, but also to re-examine the possibility of establishing new meanings through a different use of language," she says.

The same applies to Martinović: "Poetry is life itself, something that is always there, in us... It is the essence, it is existence, a bare being that only speaks, that no one can silence. Words are like seeds, they constantly spring up, on fertile or barren land, in the elitist wasteland, it doesn't matter".

And he never, he adds, writes and creates for the sake of some other or third factor, but out of his deep need.

"Believe it or not, everything I do, I do for myself. He does his own games, and out of his own needs. I write poetry as I live - spontaneously, in the moment when it comes and asks to be written down. I can often say to myself and others: 'And unwritten books live, in the general memory, in the astral where everything is written, from whose handwriting we all take'... And that handwriting is eternal and is copied in those who are worthy of taking it from its pages. "Poetry is like food, food you can't live without," Martinović points out.

Delac reminds that the purpose of poetry, today and always, is to express what is impossible to describe.

"I don't remember who wrote that if there is a purpose to poetry, its purpose is to convey what seems impossible to explain and say into language through poetic images," she says.

At the end of the conversation and on the occasion of the Poetry Festival, Martinović tells the readers "to read poetry and live it as life".