Lidia Popa: “The philosophy that inlays literature is the true art for giving birth to a good book”

Interview with Lidia Popa, Romanian poet from Rome, Italy

Επιμέλεια συνέντευξης: Eva Petropoulou Lianou, Greece

LIDIA POPA was born in Romania (1964) and lives in Italy. She write poetry, essays and prose in Romanian and Italian. She translates into Romanian, Italian, English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese from other languages. Her literary debut was recognized in Italy. She have published 6 books of poetry in Romanian, Italian and Albanian, and have been published in various anthologies and literary magazines. She have won numerous international awards. She currently manages literary groups and bloggs, and is the founder of the literary magazine Lido dell’anima/ Lido of the soul, creator of the literary current HOMELESS POETRY and of the international “LIDO DELL’ANIMA AWARDS”. She is graphic designer for WORLD CONTEMPORARY POETS anthology of literary group Poetry and Literature World Vision in Bangladesh (creator Shikdar Mohammed Kibriah) and PRODIGY MAGAZINE – USA (founder Zlatan Demirovic)

Contact: [email protected]

Share your thoughts on the future of literature. When did you start writing? I started writing when I was seven years old, I’ve only been recognized as a poet since 2014 and I’ve continued with various more less known activities in the international literary world. At the moment I see the literary world suffering from the quality of texts that are very reductive and boring in the immediacy, even if simplified from a phonetic point of view. We are witnessing a poverty of simplified language without metaphors. We can call it evolution, but I see only a rampant invasion of messaging that wants to take place in literature involving the enigmatic relationship between the writer and the reader. If this is the future of literature, I don’t know if I will resist remaining helpless in the face of such an erosion of literary language. A book that doesn’t keep you in suspense that doesn’t reveal new meanings and doesn’t give that moment of happiness that invites you to reflect like a muse who embodies or at least involves the reader with metaphors is destined to forget.

The good and the bad. Who is winning nowadays? If we talk about winners, in my opinion there are no winners or losers. In a world driven by caste and political interests we are all big losers because we have failed to bring honesty and love of neighbor to the fore to lead the decadent society from every point of view. I am referring to the social world where poverty, hunger, thirst and disease are on the rise. We only think of the many wars that are in every part of the world, where millions of people suffer. If we talk about the winners in the world of literary publications obviously philosophy wins from my point of view for every area of interest in literature: poetry, fiction or non-fiction. The philosophy that inlays literature is the true art for giving birth to a good book. I’m not just talking about ancient philosophy, but also about reinterpreting what we know by creating new ideas and contents, adapting to our ever-developing contemporary world of intelligence. Anything that does not have thought-provoking content is not interesting to a versatile reader. Man is always looking for new solutions that change his comfort, but also the attentions towards the future of humanity, life and the planet. The writer through the book becomes a stimulant for the imagination, both in a children’s book and when we write only for adults. Our task is very delicate and complicated. Therefore, before writing a book you have to read, read and study. By studying you can overcome evil.

How many books have you written. And where can we find your books? Until now I have written 6 (six) books of poetry:

1. Punto differente (essere)/ Point different (to be) – Aletti Editore Italia 2016 edition in Italian, paper and ebook, sold out

2. Nell’antro dei miei pensieri (Dacia)/ In the cave of my thoughts (Dacia) – Aletti Editore Italia 2016 Italian – Romanian edition, carraceo and ebook, sold out

3. Anfora di cielo/ Sky amphora – Edizioni Divinafollia Italia 2017 Italian Romanian edition, can be ordered from the publisher

4. Sufletul cuvintelor/ The soul of words – Publisher Amanda Edit Verlag Romania 2021 edition in Romanian and Albanian, a limited number of copies.

5. Sintagme cu dor de trifoi/ Syntagms longing for clovers – Minela Editore Romania 2021 edition in Romanian, of which I still have some copies.

6. Vocea interioară/ The inner voice – Publisher Amanda Edit Verlag Romania 2021 Romanian Italian edition together with the Romanian poet of Albanian origin Baki Ymeri, a limited number of copies.

I have also published in about 50 anthologies in Italy, Romania, Canada, Germany, Serbia, the United States and in numerous international literary magazines, poems and some essays.

The book. E-book or hardcover book. What will be the future? I think both forms of reading coexist for many more years. The thrill of holding a printed book in your hands is beyond any electronic format. Given the speed of information technology, it would not surprise me if the complete work becomes an application to be read comfortably on a mobile phone or computer and that only in that historical moment will the profit from the sale of a book go directly to its creator, who is the writer. it is obvious that software developers of new information technologies will also earn money for reading any type of “book”, but the proceeds from the sale will not go exclusively to the publisher. In today’s writer is punished with the phrase “the book is not sold” and is a precarious underpaid in the landscape of culture, when the reality is that the publisher thinks of immediate economic gain and not in perspective by investing with confidence in the ability of ‘author. In my opinion the author should be stimulated and financed by the state for his contribution to universal literature.

Best wishes for 2022. A sentence from your book. For what is left of 2022 I wish health and peace, to our readers, colleagues and family, wish that I wish it could be carried into the next year with serenity and trust in humanity. I conclude by thanking you for your kindness and hospitality with the following invitation to reflection: Once upon a time, poets were welcomed in the square like oracles./ They were other times with more respect for/ values such as literature and culture. /What happened in the meantime?/ What have we lost?// Has the sense of worth diminished?/ Or has the disinterest in literature grown?/ We realize too late that/ we have lost the illuminations and won the lemonade. / After all, after this breath better not to accepting dessert, K.!// (from my next book “Soulmates”)

We know that everything is easy and harmful to health. Literature stripped down to convenience without being selective can become toxic and uninteresting to readers.

The voice I hear

Crystal clear and flawless voice –

a masterfully carved stone –

the Thinker,

testimony despite the unfavorable weather.

The creative matter changes color,

the incandescent magma goes down,

memory of lava rock

of the bowls of the earth.

Raging rivers of boiling material,

covers the land with wrath,

leaving long breaths of sulfur.