Friday, April 8, 2011

:bio, 7 questions & message:::Slobodan Nikolić [poet, novels & short stories writter, photographer..]

A bio about Slobodan Nikolić:

Slobodan Nikolić, born in Pančevo, Vojvodina, Serbia in 1980. as a Gemini. Used to live in Belgrade, near Pančevo, but now is finally back home, nobody knows for how long. Graduated from Navy Academy in Belgrade, but received (mostly) honorable discharge from the Serbian Navy. Interested in Psychology, finishes Dream Interpretation and Analysis Course and is soon to became licensed Dream interpreter. Falls in love easily with cities and women. In cities mostly because of women. Used to be in love with Trieste, Zagreb, Subotica. Currently is emotional immigrant in Budapest, Hungary. Writes poetry, short stories and novels. His work was translated in Italian, English and Hungarian. His first novel is to be published this yeas in Croatia.

THE NIGHT, THE WAKE

In clocks’ throats
I am residual bit
Stuck between
The hands

I am waterfall on guard
To prevent the spark of daybreak
From igniting the pyre
Underneath our bodies

With wax from my lips
I put a seal on your eyelids
To protect the treasury
Beneath them

On the bridge of my arm
Your dreams walk freely
Between the banks
Of dusk and dawn

Pančevo, 2011



What would u say encouraged u to start writin' poetry?

I'd say it was the need to express myself. Ivo Andrić says: Personally, I always wanted only two things: to be able to describe everything I see and to be able to express everything I feel. That's the need I mentioned. Reading always encourages me to make a "dialogue" with poets I read and to continue to explore the possibilities of words, simply to try to make a step further. Also I get motivation when I see people's reactions when they read my poem, the way it reaches them and sometimes transforms them and makes them understand themselves better.



rosso-nero by: Slobodan Nikolić

READING NERUDA

You are reading Neruda
At 6 o’clock in the morning
After sleepless night
In somebody else’s apartment
In which you already feel at home
In the city you have been calling your own
For a long time
Though you know it is not
Neruda, which you don’t even like to read
(And you refuse to admit
That today, you even
Like some of his poems)
And you know you could write
The most beautiful verses this morning
The greatest love poems of all
And the saddest ones, too
Only to defy Neruda
But you are wondering if it’s worth doing
Without knowing
If you’ll ever get the chance to read them
To Her

Zagreb, 2011.



What inspires ur writing ?

What inspires me the most is people: interacting with people, feeling people, understanding people, getting to know people. I find poetry very personal, very intimate, although nowadays it doesn't necessarily have to be. Love inspires me, pain inspires me, beauty inspires me. Every moment needs to be described. Every description is just an attempt of verbal presentation, but that is what I do - attempting. My greatest wish is to find the unity between the world in us and the world outside, because it is one and the same.

tell us about ur last award UNESCO and some other of them important for u?

I was awarded UNESCO award on Castello di Duino poetry competition in 2011. This is the competition for young poets(under 30) and is considered one of the most important literary competitions in Italy and in the World. Around 1200 poems from more than 80 countries. The award is important only for one reason: it helps you to reach people, it makes people pay attention to what you have to say. After the prize giving ceremony I wrote a short poem which explains my attitude toward awards:

ABOUT UNESCO AWARD


I listened carefully to the explanation
About the award I had received
I didn’t understand a word
Because it was in Italian
But it left me assured that I am protected
By the UNESCO plate
As the cultural monument
And that no one is even allowed to touch me
But it also left me worried
Because the only real danger that threatens me
Is of collapsing
From the inside


Zagreb, 2011 

Fly until it's too late by: Slobodan Nikolić

What are one or two characteristics of ur poetry that you would want people to grasp?

I put emotions vs frustrations! In most of modern poetry you can find only frustration, dissatisfaction and lack of emotions and warmth.
If showing emotions means to be pathetic, as they often say, I gladly choose pathos over intellectual coldness and negativity. People understand emotional messages better than intellectual ones. If you deny poets the right to be emotional, you throw away several centuries of poetry. I want people to grasp on that, on emotions. And I want them to use my words to go deeper into their own souls.


some events and festival that are part of ur close future agenda:

As I am getting older, beside the pain in my back, I compete less and I am being given the opportunity to evaluate more. I have been the president of the jury in Art Attack engaged poetry festival in Croatia. The topic of the competition was: Children. We received more than 100 hundred poems from all over the world and we have chosen 15 of them to be published. I am personally very satisfied with the choice of the poems and i am very proud of that selection. I had help from two wonderful poetesses and friends - Ana Zupčić and Maja Klarić. We are all looking forward to the festival in October, because many of organizations got interested in becoming part of the festival. UNICEF is one of them.

THE FOURTH DAY


It’s the third day already
That the Sun doesn’t come out.

It’s the third day already
That the whole tribe is standing
Focused on the scar
Dividing Heaven from the Earth.

Yesterday I heard gunshots from the forest! –
Somebody said –
The Sun was shot down!

A girl cried:
I saw it as well, I saw...

The sky went red! –
Mother said.

And everything grew silent anew.

And on the fourth morning
There came out from the forest
Unknown armed men
Bearing coins of gold.

Each apiece! -
They said.

We placed them on our tongues
As wafers of the Sun
And swallowed them with satisfaction
Before they slew us
With black blades.


2010 ~ Maja Klarić, translation

Ciganče.GypsyBoy


interest and hobby photography? few words about it:

Ah, so many people make good photos nowadays, the competition is really extraordinary. I don't consider myself a photographer really, although my works have been exhibited in Italy and Croatia. I carry my big camera with me and I try to capture the moments with a bit of technical knowledge. My favorite motif is portrait, but captured in natural and non-posing way.


Words of wisdom to someone just beginning:

Read as much as you can, but you don't have to read everything. And you don't have to like everything. Choose books wisely and always have in mind that the right ones for you will find their way to you. And write! Try to let go of the influences and follow your inner need to write. Don't try to follow tendencies and styles that are modern, think for yourself and be honest with what you do.



inspiring message for onestoppoetry readers :)

They say that the word is mightier than the sword. A Serbian poet says that he has been killed by the word too strong. My only fear is to be killed by the word too weak .


:by_@kihuPotru