Σας παρουσιάζουμε τον Alexander Leppik
Επιμέλεια συνέντευξης: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Bio: I was born and live in St. Petersburg! 30 years old. I’ve been writing poems and songs since I was 12. I am actively published in poetry collections (“Poetic Motif”, “Modern Poetry”, “Poets of the Almaz-Antey Aerospace Defense Concern”, etc.). Participant and laureate of various poetry contests both in St. Petersburg and in Russia (“February Diary”, “#together”, etc.). Took part in the festival “Island of Forts” in Kronstadt. I keep poetic pages in various social networks under the nickname @alex_leppik and the tag #baltiyskiypoet. I also conduct author’s live broadcasts. I perform at many St. Petersburg venues: clubs “Northern half of the world”, “Poets live”, “Blue Bridge”, “Literary Salon”, etc. I enjoy every moment of my life, which I wish to all readers and admirers of Poetry!
What inspired and inspires you to write now? To whom or what were the first works dedicated? I have always tried to find answers to the questions: what is inspiration and where does it come from? It happens that you go somewhere, once – and a line arrives, followed by a second one… And you don’t notice how the poem is ready! It happens that an event or a person inspires; it happens that the idea itself comes to visit. And the answers to questions about inspiration remain open. I wrote my first poem back in the 5th grade, which was dedicated to my desire to become an astronaut – I wrote it as a homework assignment in literature; but, unfortunately, it has not been preserved …
Do you have a favorite author? I have several favorite authors: A.S. Pushkin, M.Y. Lermontov and A.A. Blok. They have, in my opinion, influenced Russian poetry and culture in general the most. And, rereading them, I find new facets of creativity or ideas every time – it’s amazing!
What creative activities, besides poetry, characterize you and make you recognizable in St. Petersburg? A difficult question, because I am critical of myself… I just write and read poetry at various cultural venues and literary salons. And at the same time, I am very happy when my lines find responses from readers and admirers of Poetry. A special thrill in the soul arises when my poems help readers overcome life’s difficulties – it’s worth a lot!
What is the peculiarity of your performances and what makes you stand out from other poets of St. Petersburg? I often perform in the improvisational genre: I start from the mood of the audience, from the topics that are set during the performance, and from what I remember from what I wrote. Therefore, each performance is not like the previous one, but in each of them I open my soul to the audience.
How do you manage to combine work and poetry? Is there enough time for everything? Oh, there is clearly not enough time! Work is work, first of all; you can’t get distracted on it: “It’s time for business…”, as they say. And I devote time to poetry outside of work: I write poems in the evenings and on weekends and then I perform on stage. However, if there was such an opportunity, I would extend the day from 24 hours to at least 30!
How do you see the future of your creativity and world literature in general? In the near future, I plan to publish the first independent collection of poems – there are quite a lot of publications in joint collections, but there is no book of my own yet. I see the development of world literature in the evolution of those trends and genres that have become classical; at the same time, it is worth noting that we should not forget about the canons thanks to which world literature has been created at this moment.
What would you like to wish your readers and fellow writers/poets in the coming 2023? To readers and fellow writers/poets – in all corners of the Earth, I want to wish simple human happiness! As it was sung in one famous song:
“We wish you happiness,
Happiness in this big world!
Like the Sun in the morning,
Let it come into the house.
We wish you happiness,
And it should be like this:
When you’re happy yourself,
Share your happiness with others!”
