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?
ALICIA:
I want to
thank you the great opportunity to be in this important space. It is a real
honor for me! Wholeheartedly thank you !
I write since I was 7 years old, only my
family, my teachers and my best friends knew that I liked to write poems and
they chose me to write the final speech at the end of the school year.I was a very shy person
but 3 years ago I determined to show the world what I write. Among my favorite
poets are: Hafiz, Rumi, William Blake, Novalis, Pablo Neruda, Ruben Dario, AlfonsinaStorny, Ernesto Kahan
and Winston Morales Chavarro. Hafiz was
my inspiration when I was 13 years old.
Among my favorites genres to read are: Egyptian historical novel,
science fiction, metaphysics, spirituality and religion. I like to write free
verse poetry but, I also write poetry prose or narrative. Someone told me one day that the first words
of inspiration are sent by the gods and the rest is the work of the poet. I
definitely believe in the inspirational moments that come to my heart to write.
OPA What has
been the toughest criticism given to you as a writer? What was the biggest
compliment? Did that change how or what you write? What has been the strangest thing that a
reader has asked you?
ALICIA:
The
harshest criticism: a journalist from Colombia said one of my poems had a very
forced rhyme. She did not know that I write in free verse and that poem had
been written several years ago.The biggest compliment?I find them every time
when I write a new poem, always wonderful comments! And I think the strangest thing that a reader
has asked me is: to marry him!
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?
ALICIA:
I do not
have a favorite poem, because I try to improvement each day and overcome what I
wrote. The difference between the writingof
my poems since I was only 7 years old is very large compared as I
write now, because I did not have knowledge of literary devices, nor knew about
the meter and rhyme of poems, It were only the
felt thoughts come out of the heart of a little girl who wanted to change the world. My
writing changed some years ago when my mentors in poetry gave me the guidelines
to follow to find my own literary style and I am very grateful to them.
OPA What has
been your favorite part of being a poet or and author? What has been your least
favorite?
ALICIA:
I love the
creative imagination that allows me to unleash my thoughts. I like to playing
with words to getall what I want with my
poems. The only part I don´t like is that as writers, we do not have the
government support of our countries.
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?
ALICIA:
On my day
job I´m working as a French, English and Computer Science teacher, I love
my work so much! But I write because my real passions are: Singing and
Writing.
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?
ALICIA:
I greatly
enjoy each one of the activities I do. In addition to reading and writing I am
passionate about singing since I was a kid. I can sing in 5 different
languages: French, English, Italian, Spanish and Bahasa (Indonesian). Through
singing, I can getout all the emotions
and feelings I have inside of me. I have an unpublished book written in poetic prose, I'm also writing a novel. I feel that as
writers we must explore several genres.
OPA: Do you think literature or poetry is essential in our life? If so why?
How does it relate to the general history of mankind?
ALICIA:
Man is a
social being and the main element of sociability is the word, is therefore far better mastered the use of
language and literature, we will be more complete and more useful. Speaking of
literature is to immerse ourselves in a world of fantasy, fiction, history,
facts; It is a world with which we interact and that is all around us at all
times. This foundation is achieved through daily learning, either at
university, college or daily life. Otherwise we would suffer a stalemate and
the only way to overcome it is investigating and searching for ourselves.
OPA Our
readers would like to know your own personal experience regarding the
importance of literature and poetry in your life.
ALICIA:
We live surrounded
by Poetry. We find Poetry wherever we look around ... In a
beautiful sunrise, in a starry night, on the
tender smile of a child, in the soft
voice of the beloved one caressing our
soul only with a few words, in the
presence and company of our parents, in the embrace of a friend or a brother.
Every moment it´s a not written poetry
for me, offering me the opportunity to shape it in a canvas of paper… The best
poetry will be found within your own voice!
OPA Do you think people in general bother about literature in
general? Do you think this consumerist
world is turning the average man away from serious literature?
ALICIA:
There's a
lot of it. I feel the love of literature is being lost, perhaps because the
consumerist environment in which we live. For this reason, we need to promote love of
literature and poetry. For an individual can appreciate all this, we must begin
to instill a love of Literature and poetry to children in schools, since kindergarten and not only that, but also
the love of culture and arts.
OPA Do you think society is a factor in shaping you as a poet, or your
poetry altogether?
ALICIA:
Definitely! Because based on social problems, poets are a
launching point to talk openly about relevant issues, or also to raise
awareness, seeking followers to support our thoughts… We can not remain silent
in the face of social injustices.
OPA We
would like to know about any influences that has inspired your poetry and
writings.
ALICIA: I love to read are: Egyptian historical novel, science
fiction, metaphysics, spirituality, religion and novel. I have read more than
600 books in: French, English and Spanish always searching the knowledge,
because those are our treasures in heaven.the knowledge we bring to start
another life. I have wonderful influences in my life to inspire my poetry: Hafiz,
Rumi, William Blake, Novalis, Pablo Neruda, Ruben Dario. Contemporary writers
as my beloved MonsifBeroual also:Ernesto Kahan,JetonKelmendi,AgronShele,
AlicjaKuberska, Madan Gandhi, Sami Nasr, Maria Miraglia, Roula Pollard,
SantoshBakaya, Mohammed Ahmed Benis, Hussein Habasch, Caroline Nazareno, Susana
Roberts, Luz Maria Lopez, Pedro Felix Novoa, Alfred Asis and Winston Morales Chavarro.
OPA We would also like to know; how do you relate the present literary
trends with the literary heritage of your country?
ALICIA:
The second
decade of the twentieth century is an essentialkey for understanding the current development of
Latin American literature period. It is a time when the precious sumptuous
rhetoric of modernism is discarded and the basis for a complete break with the
immediate artistic past. From it, the dominant literary modes recognize the
common roots. They were years of demonstrations, proclamations and violent
polemics, an intensive search of originality, expressive and formal insurgency
that broke out in embodiments radically changing the course of inland letters. Mainly
poetry in American literature, presents a puzzling aspect to the public. The
constructive will is imposed on the impressionistic, emotional and spiritual.
The avant-garde poetry renews the language and purpose of traditional poetry.
The cult of beauty, to the demands of
the aesthetic harmony. The new poetry rejects the rational use of language,
syntax, declamatory and musical form,
musical legacy: meter, rhyme, giving primacy to the continued exercise of
imagination to the unusual and visionary images, the asintactism, the new
typographical arrangement, visual
effects and a discontinuous and
fragmented, simultaneity makes the primary constructive principle. The
avant-garde echoes are felt in all Latin American countries.
OPA Do you believe that all writers are the product of their nationality?
Is it an incentive or an obstacle in becoming an international writer?
ALICIA:
I do not
feel that writers are a product of his nationality, because each of them has
been influenced differently by some literary currents, or by some poets of
different nationalities. It may be the case that a poet is recognized abroad
and to be a perfect stranger in his / her own country. The nationality of a
writer is not an impediment to excel abroad. Strongly influences, hard work, consistence and permanence to fight
for the realization of their dreams makes the difference.
OPA What 7 words would you use to describe
yourself?
ALICIA:I´m:
passionate, courageous, cheerful,
patient, consistent, logic and
creative.
OPA Is
there anything else that you would like to share or say to those who will read
this interview?
ALICIA:Never stop dreaming! Do not listen the noise of others when they try to destroy
your dreams, just listen to your inner
voice and defend everything you love.
ALICIA MINJAREZ RAMÍREZ: Multi-awarded poetess, writer, singer,
translator, university professor, broadcast radio and |T.V. She was born in
Tijuana Baja California, Mexico. Winner
of a special mention and a medal in the International Poetry Prize NOSSIDE
Italy 2015 and 2016.President for Mexico in International Writers Association
IWA BOGDANI, Albania. Her poems have been translated into: English, French,
Taiwanese, Albanian, Cameroonian, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian and
Polish. And published in more than 50 International Anthologies, journals and
magazines around the world.
The editorial staff of this project: Stacia Lynn Reynolds and Deborah
Brooks Langford; sincerely thank you for your time and hope we shall have your
continued support.
