NILAVRONILL TALKING WITH
POET OF THE MONTH
ELISABETTA
BAGLI
NOVEMBER
2020
NILAVRONILL: Why do literature and poetry in particular
interest you so much? Please give us some idea about your own perception of
literature or poetry in general.
ELISABETTA
BAGLI: Literature is the foundation that opens up
many creative paths through words. I like Literature because with it I can
experience people’s ideas through words, interpreting several creative worlds.
Reading, I can explore the most varied human emotions; discover what sensations
produce laughter, fear, sighs and tears and how they are projected on paper by
the writer who has the gift of transferring them and connecting them to the
reader. Literature is an art that contains a mixture of objectivity and
subjectivity –fundamental to create one’s own style-, it is multifunctional,
and it fills our thoughts, occupies our attention and enriches our knowledge.
Literature is information, diversion and a teaching tool. In Literature I like Poetry
the most, because in a verse there is a world. Often Poetry is silence, an
intimate and powerful voice used to sing to life, to its colours, a voice that
listens to the sound of the soul, travelling between emotions, among your own
ghosts. Poetry is a voice that frees fears, smiles, love, beauty and human
hope. All this and much more is Poetry. I love to say that we are Poetry in
every breath.
NILAVRONILL: How do you relate your own self existence
with your literary life in one hand, and the time around you, in the other.
ELISABETTA BAGLI: I live my day as it presents itself, with
work and family commitments, I see friends, I walk in the park, I go to the
museum. Writing is within me and everything arises from the observation of my
surroundings and from what my soul feels as I observe. My verses are born
everywhere, on the bus, while I go shopping, while I’m walking, while I’m
cooking. I always have a piece of paper and a pen with me so that inspiration
doesn’t go away. Sometimes, I have to review that inspiration, other times it
remains exactly as it was written in the first draft. Writing implies an attitude
that filters the world through one’s own personal feelings. I have two
children, teenagers and I try to stay with them if they need me. They and my
husband help me so much in every task, even of literature. So I can say that
I’m a very lucky woman.
NILAVRONILL: Do you believe creative souls flourish
more in turmoil than in peace?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: Pablo Picasso said that the great enemy of
creativity is common sense. Perhaps, this is why being creative has been
popularly associated with turmoil. But this is not generally the case. There
are two types of art: the one that artists produce in a period of calm and the
one that artists produce when something intimate inside of them moves their
soul and they feel something related to the society in which they live and use
art and their creativity as tools to denounce. The Spanish poet, Gabriel Celaya
understood the social power of poetry and used it as “a weapon charged of
future”. We know that
creativity is the daughter of freedom of thought and is the enemy of
conventional thought. Only starting from a vacuum, we may create, because if we
start with what is already known, we really don’t do anything new, but modify
or adapt what is already known. Creating is a mix between skills (knowledge)
and attitudes (self-confidence, ambition, motivation, curiosity or search for
sensations). Creativity is generated by introducing stimulus in life. Many
times, this stimulus arises even in bad times: situations that force you to
look for alternatives, or that destroy routines in which you felt trapped to
then set you free. In this sense, we can say that turmoil is a great ally of
creativity. As for me, I can say that I write in both moments: when I feel
peace to praise nature and love for my husband, my children, my life and when I
feel something inside of me that does not let me be at peace and wants to go
out like a swollen river. So, although it may be thought that creativity arises
only in difficult moments, I can say that it is not true.
NILAVRONILL: Do you think in this age of information and
technology the dimensions of literature have
been largely extended beyond our preconceived ideas about literature in
general?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: Literature, for sure, continually adapts to
the times we live in and, as a result, technology is currently an integral part
of a writer’s life. Now we can no longer perform without social media, digital
magazines and other platforms through which we can promote ourselves and make
ourselves known to the whole world. In this way I believe that technology is
very helpful, especially in this particular period we are experiencing due to
Covid19: without technology we would not have been able to connect with each
other, we would have remained isolated and we would not have been able to enjoy
all those virtual events that help us and our art to remain alive.
NILAVRONILL: Now, in this changing scenario we would
like to know from your own life experiences as a poet, writer and a creative
soul: How do you respond to this present time?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: Well, I think all professions are in a
difficult time. Culture is too, unfortunately. I hope we can soon return to
something similar to how we lived before. I believe that, in this difficult
moment, a lot of hidden creativity has emerged, even culturally and I really
hope we can enjoy this in the best way. I have stopped some projects of mine
due to Covid19 and postponed them to next year, but I’m always working in
future new projects with some friends of mine, because Poetry and Literature
live despite the pandemic.
NILAVRONILL: Do you believe that all writers are by and
large the product of their nationality? And is this an incentive for or an
obstacle against becoming a truly international writer?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: I do believe so, because writers always
make reference to the culture, they grew up in. But as we mature, we acquire
more knowledge of life and of the world around us and we are more inclined to
leave our local reality, overcoming some barriers, especially of a cultural and
linguistic nature, with the aim of making ourselves known beyond our borders. I’m lucky because I live the poetic and
literary reality of two cities, Rome and Madrid, and therefore Italy and Spain.
Rome is the eternal city with a vast cultural heritage due to its history and
it is an extraordinary environment to be inspired in. Madrid, my adoptive city
since 2002, is a more modern city which is reflected in the attitude of the
people who live in it, that are more projected towards the outside and the future.
I write and I speak in a bilingual way, because I know the Spanish culture, the
Spanish way of life and the way of speaking of Spanish people and I can express
myself in Spanish accurately. Knowing also English and French, it is not
difficult for me to speak other languages to make
myself known and appreciated.
NILAVRONILL: Now, if we try to understand the tradition
and modernism, do you think literature can play a pivotal role in it? If so, how? Again, how can an individual
writer relate himself or herself to the tradition and to modernism?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: I think that every new artistic-literary
movement has developed from the previous one, often overturning its
characteristics. The modernism in literature was characterized by a very
conscious break with traditional writing methods, in the fields of both poetry
and prose. The explicit intention of modernism was subverting the usual ways of
representation, expressing a new sensibility more in line with the spirit of
the time. I think that it
is not possible to understand modernism, nor any other artistic-literary
movement, if the previous ones have not been studied and analysed first.
Literature is always the central pivot to understand historical evolution and
the anxieties of the human soul which then led to art. For this reason, I
believe that literature has always played an important role in shaking
consciences and bringing innovation to every field. It has always been like
this and it will be in the future as well.
NILAVRONILL: Do you think literary criticism has much to
do with the development of a poet and the true understanding of his or her
poetry?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: For sure, receiving criticism of your work
is an honour, be it positive or negative. All criticisms are constructive, even
negative ones, because they underline certain aspects that writers need take
into consideration by questioning themselves and either refine their style or
affirm it. In other words, literary criticism is necessary to make the poet
better. There are various types of literary criticism, some academic and others
that come simply from readers. Logically, they have two different values, but
both are useful in order to provide a global view of the readers’ opinion on
one’s work. Knowing that you have created verses in which the reader
identifies, for poets is a real gift and stimulates them to continue in that
direction, increasing their self-esteem.
NILAVRONILL: Do you think society as a whole is the key
factor in shaping you up as a poet, or your poetry altogether?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: Yes, I think that in my poetry I often
refer to the society around me, even if I choose to write about topics from the
past.
Readers may find
that the topics of my poetry in my books “Voce” (“Voice”, which also has its
own Spanish version “Voz”), “Dietro lo sguardo” (“Behind the gaze”), “Le nostre
due anime” (“Our two souls”) and “Dal Mediterraneo” (“From the Mediterranean”)
are very different from each other, both because of the topics covered and
because of the type of writing adopted, suitable for each theme. Either way it
is always my own style, direct and transparent. In “Voce” I deal with life in
its various aspects: love, family, places of the heart, those from my childhood
and those from now. In the second edition, I added to it a section concerning
women and gender-based violence, since over the years I took interest in this
theme and I decided to include it in the book that represents my “poetic
voice”. “Dietro lo sguardo” is a book about love and disaffection, divided into
two sections: Light and Dark. The writing aims to make the reader feel the
contrast existing between Love, the true, passionate and tender one, and that
disaffection that brings the darkness of the soul and the body that causes
sexism and violence against women that, unfortunately, still happens regularly.
“Le nostre due anime” is about love in different time periods, an ancient one,
between Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, and a contemporary
love, between John Lennon and Yoko Ono who believed to be the reincarnation of
the two English poets. I consider this to be an original book that approaches
the classics and daily life with the only common thread of love. The book also proves the strength and
courage that Elizabeth Barrett Browning had in order to carry out her ideas in
the Victorian era, a very difficult and restrictive era especially for women.
For this reason, she then escapes to Florence with her love, having married him
in secret and lives a life free from some social conventions that imprisoned
her even more than her illness. “From the Mediterranean” is a trip through my
ancient sea, a trip I took with my friend, the Greek poetess Sofia Skleida. In
this book the key is the representation of how water, our mother, sustains all the
bonds between living beings, but unfortunately it is also the grave of many
people travelling in small boats hoping to find a better life on the other side
of the Mediterranean.
NILAVRONILL: Do you think people in general actually
bother about literature? Do you think
this consumerist world is turning the average man away from serious literature?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: In Italy and in Spain, the same complaint
is always repeated, namely that poetry is often written only for poets. This
brings us directly to the contradiction that the writer and critic Giorgio
Manacorda said: “In Italy there are more people who write poems than those who
read it”. The world of poetry is strongly subject to following the path that
publishing houses mark. The problem, therefore, is that currently, although
there are good poets who write several genres of poetry, these are not
widespread in the bookstores. For this reason, if in the bookstore (even the
virtual ones) there is little poetry only represented by the usual poets, these
are the only the poets who will be read, other poets will hardly emerge. This
is why, other forms of poetic diffusion are necessary, such as events and
readings in which people who are truly interested in poetry take part,
regardless of the poet’s name. The
crisis of poetry is everywhere and, unfortunately, even the good Italian and
Spanish poets, despite being interpreters of their reality, have encountered
the same objective difficulties. It is difficult to find public or private
funding for publishing the book or literary shows that are generally
self-financed by the poets themselves. Good culture must be widespread and to
be so it must be within everyone’s reach, which is why it should always be
financed.
NILAVRONILL: We would like to know the factors and the
peoples who have influenced you immensely in the growing phase of your literary
life.
ELISABETTA BAGLI: I’ve always written, but I didn’t know that
what I wrote could be of interest to others. Writing and reading are innate
activities in my way of being. I just had to realize that what I wrote could be
read. One day, a friend of mine who knew me well and knew my writing too,
advised me to launch myself into this world and thus my first book “Voice” was
born and now, after a long time, I am still here! I like Emily Dickinson and Elizabeth Barrett
Browning, they are truly extraordinary poetesses. Reading their poems has given
me the opportunity to explore other worlds and other eras. I also really like
Borges, Salinas and Alberti, incredible poets, each with their own passions,
illusions and visions of life. The writers I love the most are Pirandello and
Oscar Wilde, for their way of representing reality through the masks that human
beings are inclined to wear to solve and live their life. With all these
authors, and with many others, I learned to read myself from the inside and we
all know that introspection is fundamental for writing, especially poetry.
NILAVRONILL: How would you evaluate your contemporaries
and what are your aspirations for or expectation from the younger generation?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: Considering my reality, I can say that both
contemporary Italian and Spanish writers and poets are doing a great deal to
carry on the bastion of culture in my two countries. Among the Italians we can
include Claudia Piccinno, Maria Grazia Calandrone, Milo De Angelis, Michela
Zanarella and among the Spanish ones we can include Izara Batres, Raquel
Lanzeros, Antonio Colinas, Juan Carlos Mestre.
I believe that
people like poetry in general, but poetry books are not really bought, because
even if people are interested in poetry they are not really interested in
reading it. I think however that young people even if they don’t read as much
poetry are closer to it since they have understood the social power of poetry.
Regardless, poetry reading should be more stimulated and we should always
remember what the CNR (National Reserch Council of Italy) wrote about the
crisis of the book and the editorial market: “A country that does not read does
not progress” and I completely agree.
Poetically, young people promise well, but they don’t read much. In this
way, their opportunities for knowledge will diminish and it will be more
difficult for them to emerge.
NILAVRONILL: Humanity has suffered immensely in the
past, and is still suffering around the world. We all know it well. But are you
hopeful about our future?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: Seeing what is happening in our society, I
see a world without empathy where visual and auditory contact will become more
and more virtual. I think that the culture of isolation becomes a trap and this
makes us forget that nothing can replace a gaze, holding someone else’s hand or
a smell. This is absolutely necessary in life and in art in all its meanings. I
love to hope a future where light and beauty will triumph.
NILAVRONILL: What role can literature in general play
to bring a better day for every human being?
ELISABETTA BAGLI: As the philosopher Umberto Galimberti says:
“young people no longer understand what is beautiful, what is right, what is
sacred, they understand only what is useful”. They think that literature is
useless and are indifferent towards it. Young people should be encouraged to
enjoy literature, but without other people imposing it to them. But if young
people do not find a renewed interest in literature, the effects that could
derive from it would be very serious, as we would be in a world condemned to
impoverish itself on a spiritual and social level and to endanger our freedom.
Literature plays a great educational function, enriching our vocabulary and our
expressive power, but also an important function in the defence of democracy
and serves to strengthen the sense of unity and belonging to the human
community, thanks to which all men enter in communication and may feel in some
way solidarity. Galimberti also says that literature serves above all to
educate our feelings. By reading good novels we can teach our children about
the ethnic and cultural differences that make up the wealth of human heritage.
Thanks to books we can cultivate a sympathetic imagination and develop the
ability to assume the positions of people very different from us, a necessary
skill for the development and duration of a democracy. Without literature, the
world would be a world without freedom, because if you don’t read, you don’t
think and you don’t have knowledge and people, being less aware of their life
and the reality they live, are more easily influenced and, therefore, less
free. This is why I believe that to be fully alive it is absolutely necessary
to read novels, poetry, stories and thus educate our existence to freedom.
ELISABETTA BAGLI was
born in Rome (Italy) and she has lived in Madrid (Spain) since 2002. She has a
degree in Economics and Business from La Sapienza in Rome. She is a writer of
poetry, short stories and essays and she is also a translator and interpreter
of Spanish. Some of her poems and writings have been translated into thirteen
languages. She is the author of several poetry books, a compilation of stories,
a children’s book, and articles and essays for newspapers and digital magazines
around the world. Operating in more than a hundred national and international
anthologies, she is the President and a Former member of the Jury in many
national and international literary prizes. She is the National Secretary for
Spain of the AIM (Association for Italy in the World) based in Rome (Italy), an
association that has a wide distribution in more than fifty countries. She is a
correspondent in Spain for Radio ICN NY, the radio station for Italians in New
York (USA). She is the correspondent of the World Festival of Poetry in Spain.
She is the correspondent in Spain for the Poetry Sound Library and the Voices
of the Trees, projects conceived in London (UK) by the artist Giovanna Iorio
and disseminated all over the world. She has been an Honorary Member of NGO
THRibune, Tribune for Human Rights since December 2019, based in Madrid
(Spain), organization which she collaborates with. She is an Honorary Member of
the International University of Peace, based in Lugano (Switzerland). She is an
Honorary Member of the Cultural Association L’Oceano nell’Anima, based in Bari
(Italy). Since October 31st, 2016, she has been an Academic at the Accademia
Internazionale Il Convivio in Castiglione di Sicilia (Italy). She has
collaborated with the Com.It.Es in the Italian Consular Network of Madrid (Spain)
and with the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Madrid (Spain) for the organization
of cultural events. She has collaborated with the Esther Koplowitz Foundation,
based in Madrid (Spain). She has received many prestigious awards, including
the Mayte Spínola Diploma of Honor for artistic merit from the Pro Arte y
Cultura group in 2017 (Spain), the Distinction for Outstanding Woman in
culture, 2019 awarded by the Latin American Women’s Forum, Mar del Plata
(Argentina), the Italian Award for Culture 2019 awarded by the Italian
Ambassador Stefano Sannino in Madrid (Spain), Najiman Prize in Lebanon on July
2020 and many others prizes in Italy, in Spain and all over the world for
cultural merits.
Her website is: https://www.elisabettabagli.com/
