SIAMIR MARULAFAU

OUR POETRY ARCHIVE FEATURED

POET OF THE MONTH

SIAMIR

MARULAFAU

FEBRUARY 2016

OPA How long have you been writing Poetry? We would like to know the early stories about your growing up as a poet or writer in general. Who are your favorite Poets? What are some of your favorite genres to read and to write? Had they inspired you a lot, do you believe in inspiration as a guiding force behind writings at all?

SIAMIR  I have been writing poetry for more than 5 years.The early stories about my growing up as a poet or writer in general is that when my wife died of a certain disease 5 years ago i became very sad and started writing many poems dealing with the subject matter  of love and published in some social medias.I wrote some poems about love stories in my own language(Indonesian) and published them as my own “Poem Anthology”.Beside that,I now also write some poems in English which talks about love,politics,religious,etc in International Group Poet and published by Ardus publication,Canada,Columbia,USA .My favorite poets are Robert Frost,and Christin Anne Porter,Lord Tennyson,William Charlos Williams.My favorite genres to read and write is a free verse concerning with poetry prose forms related to modern poetry.Of course,they had inspired me and i do believe that having ispiration is also one of the best guiding forces to write poems.

OPA What has been the toughest criticism given to you as a writer? What was the biggest compliment? Did those change how or what you write?  What has been the strangest thing that a reader has asked you?

SIAMIR  Well,as long as i  have been writing poems,there are so many criticism criticized me about writing poems,especially about using poetic words or choice of words,and i can give a solution since i am a teacher of poetry in my University.It seems there was not biggest compliment.,and these made changed a lot about writing poems.The strangest thing that a reader has asked me is that why i should write the poems were mosltly about love,and answered that not only ‘love’ i wrote but also about politics,religious ,and humanity and war and something concerning with the nature of all.

OPA What is your favorite poem you have ever written? Compared to when you first started writing, have you notice any big changes in your writing style or how you write compared from then to now?

SIAMIR  My favorite poem I have ever written is “NO GAP BETWEEN”.Comparing when I first started writing seems too much different and has any big changes to now since I know that  the more i write poem the more changes there will be caused by dynamic improvement of writing.

OPA   What has been your favorite part of being a poet or and author? What has been your least favorite?

SIAMIR  My favorite part of being a poet or an author is to read and appreciate other poets’ poems beside writing the poems.Criticizing poems written by others’ poets is also my least favorite in terms of being a poet.

OPA  Did you get to quit your day job and become a writer and or author or do you still have a day job and writing is something you do for fun? If you still have a day job, what is it?

SIAMIR  No,i did not quit my daily job,and to become a writer or an author is just to improve Human Resource beside having a day job since writing is a part of my life.Though i still have a day job,i try to write poems and other literary works such as short stories,etc.

 OPA   Besides writing and reading, what is your most favorite thing to do? What genre are you most looking forward to explore during your writing career? Why?

SIAMIR  The most favorite thing i do is to teach students in my own University,especially English language and literature so as to explore during my writing career.It is because teaching English language and literature will improve the way of writing poems.

OPA: Do you think literature or poetry is really essential in our life? If so why? How does it relate to the general history of mankind?

SIAMIR  I think literature or poetry is really essential in our life because it concerns with entertainment as a part of human need or on the other hands,it is a mirror of human life.Literaure or poetry has a very close relation with history of mankind related to the use of language whereas the primitive societies used poetry or literature in conveying something what they like to say to others in daily life.

OPA   Our readers would like to know your own personal experience regarding the importance of literature and poetry in your life.

SIAMIR  In my personal experience,literature and poetry are really very important in my life because since i started studying literature and poetry had made my mind be more wide,especially in understanding arts,which could not be separated from my life until i started writing and teaching literature and poetry as my major subjects of teaching in my University.

OPA Do you think people in general actually bother about literature in general?  Do you think this consumerist world is turning the average man away from serious literature?

SIAMIR  No,i do not think people generally bother about literature.As a matter of fact,they are mostly to take parts in studying and reading literature,even this consumerist world is not turning away from literature seriously since they know that  literature is a part of art that make significat need for mankind.

OPA Do you think society, as a whole, has a factor in shaping you as a poet, or your poetry altogether?

SIAMIR  No,i do not think so ,the society  has a factor in shaping me as a poet and my poetry altogether.My reason to say so is that a few of them still do not know me as a poet even to read my poetry altogether.But,those who know me well and read my poetry in social medias shape me as a poet and rearding my poetry is good.

OPA We would also like to know; How do you relate the present literary trends with the literary heritage of your own country? 

SIAMIR  Well, it is so difficult  to separate the present literary trends with the literary heritage of my own country sincce the two terms are in the same root,and i relate it in terms of the style of writing,which belongs to modern or present literary trends nowadays.

OPA Do you support feminisms? Can literature play any decisive role in feminism at all?

SIAMIR  yes,I do support feminisms very much since they are important to take parts in making man successful.Why not,literature can play any decisive in feminism.As a matter of fact,feminisms are mostly sudied and discussed in lierature.

OPA Do you believe that all writers are by and large the product of their nationality? Is it an incentive or an obstacle in becoming an international writer?

SIAMIR  I think,not all of them but some of them may be presumably regarded like that.I think,no.Not because of  grasping an incentive or an obstacle become an international writer.Most of them would like to share valuable message through writing poems so as to become international writer.

 

OPA What 7 words would you use to describe yourself?

SIAMIR  There are 7 words i use to describe myself are :1.Active,2.Honest,3.Loyal,4.Careful,5.Smart,6.Humble,7.Improved

OPA   Is there anything else that you would like to share or say to those who will read this interview?

SIAMIR  Well,i would like to say that this interview is really good and important to read so as to know and share ideas dealing with literature and poetry between one with another.So,by this interview,those who will read will be involved to differ different ideas concerning with understanding,writing and reading literature or poetry.

SIAMIR MARULAFAU was born in Nias,North Sumatra-Indonesia,May 17,1958.He is a lecturer in English language and literature at the University of North Sumatra,He is a poet,short story writers.He has been writing many poems in English and Indonesian language and some of his works were published such as: “Humanity”(A Poem Anthology,2015); “Lighting”(A Poem Anthology,2016),etc.

The editorial staff of this project: Deborah Brooks Langford, Stacia Lynn Reynolds; sincerely thank you for your time and hope we shall have your continued support.