A report for the New Zealand Book Council

V Festival Internacional de Poesia de Granada 2009

Unofficial impressions

A tentative swabbing of my pack for explosive residue as an armed policeman stood over me, then four hours as a free man in Los Angeles on a Saturday that found both the Museum of Modern Art and the Walt Disney Concert Hall closed – hardly an auspicious beginning to a week of grace.

When I landed in Managua Airport an immigration official was waiting with my name on a laser-printed sign; I was guided past an exhausted crowd, my passport stamped in less time than it takes to say ‘Ruben Dario’, then ushered past beggars to a shuttle, where antique Beat Anne Waldman embraced me like the long-lost twin of Kerouac. If I say that Nicaragua is a country of wonders then I have to acknowledge that every country has them. But the wonder here is that such an economically depressed, politically tensioned people can summon a prancing enthusiasm for beauty. Here poetry is a Utopian residence that every man, woman and child appears to visit regularly; some even try to live there.

The song that moves a New Zealand preschooler continues to move a Nicaraguan labourer, teacher, or businessman. As a minor poet from the bottom of the world I felt humbled
and, yes, inspired. With 130 poets from 54 countries, the programme was an overflowing well of words. I was asked to take part in the ‘Burial of Lies & Deceit’ burlesque funeral procession, where I read rather too delicately to an indelicate audience; they wanted to speed up while I wanted to slow down. I felt disappointed until fellow poet Gioconda Belli, former Director of State Communications for the Sandinista administration she is now an outspoken critic of, said how much she admired my tender delivery. It was rare and therefore to be prized in a country of shouts, squeals, and gunfire.

The next night, under the antique gun-tower of Fortaleza La Polvora, I read with Yevtushenko. He stepped out of the cover of my Penguin Modern European Poets edition. If I found his delivery unexpectedly kitsch, I couldn’t ignore the booming applause. When my name was called I gulped, glanced at Ernesto Cardenal’s intent face, then launched into
the peculiarly New Zealand lines: Rusted barbs are more dangerous than bright ones.

The wire fencing the well wants the signature of a child’s thigh, the blood of one more explorer.

By the time my Spanish translator had delivered her version I knew this festival was, in part, mine. Esther Dischereit (Germany) gave me an un-Germanic hug, Isabella Panfido (Italy) kissed me and asked for a copy of the poem, Víctor Rodríguez Núñez (Cuba) offered to publish my poetry, Arjen Duinker (Holland) nodded emphatically – and Gioconda Belli smiled
again, a benign if fallen angel. My final reading was in San Marcos. I appeared with the impeccably mannered Obediah Smith (Bahamas), having been blessed first by a
Roman Catholic priest. When we returned to Granada it was to hear an ecstatic Arjen tell how he had been required to kiss the fourteen contestants for Miss Nicaragua 2009. Our colleague, Marko Pogacar (Croatia) looked down: “No… F**k…I never get the luck.” I didn’t kiss any contestants – but I felt I got the luck. The V Festival
Internacional de Poesia de Granada 2009 was a blessing beyond words.

Official summary

A blessing beyond words, yes, because the V Festival Internacional de Poesia de Granada 2009 was tightly organised, with a Spanish translator assigned to each attendee, and police officers designated to each venue. With a large list of attendees, including Nobel nominees like Yevtushenko, the number of sessions was such that it was necessary to
select carefully lest one be too tired to perform at one’s best Notwithstanding, there were ample opportunities for networking to advantage. I discussed with Guatemala’s Carolina Escobar Sarti the isolation of New Zealand poets, and she affirmed that the responses to my work by fellow poets indicated that there was no inherent problem with developing appreciation once the initial connection had been made. Despite extensive profiling at English-language festivals, our contemporary poets (Manhire, Bornholdt et al) had no profile among the 130 attendees I talked with, and the only local writers known to most were Katherine Mansfield and Janet Frame. [C.K. Stead was identified by one Arab
writer.] I cannot help but think that an arts administration that has focussed almost exclusively on English-language destinations for our writers has not optimised opportunities for appreciation and readership. Given that around 400 million people speak Spanish, and it is one of the three most widespread languages in the world, the historic reluctance of Creative New Zealand to support initiatives by Ron Riddell, Michael Harlow and myself is puzzling. When I approached CNZ for support in 2007 I was told that this was ‘not a target market’ and discouraged from making a formal application. In consequence my invitation to attend last year’s festival could not be accepted. Given such a background, the Book Council’s ongoing support is critical if New Zealand is to cultivate a potential readership that is 100 times the entire population of our country. Not a target market indeed! CNZ’s
perception seems to be that, because the host country is economically poor, the flow-on benefits will be negligible. But this is to ignore that 54 countries had 130 representatives at Granada 2009. Italy sent 3 representatives, as did Austria. Germany was represented by the leading German-Jewish writer of our time, Esther Dischereit (with whom I am in ongoing correspondence about a Berlin-based project). The attendees included editors, translators, and scouts for other festivals.

For instance, Victor Rodriguez Nunez, Associate-Professor of Spanish at Kenyon College, wrote me: It was wonderful to meet you in Granada. Your poetry still reverberates in my memory. Please send me your poems translated into Spanish. I want to get them published in Latin America. I can also lobby for you in other poetry festivals in the region. And Austrian poet Andrea Stift confirmed: I liked your poems very much and wanted to ask you, if there are german translations already? If not: I would very much like to do
some. In addition the Italian poet and editor Tomasa Pieragnolo is translating my work for publication, as is José Luís Reina Palazón. Given the international support they receive, festivals such as Granada and Medellin should be afforded high priority; they are more likely to afford measurable benefits than the likes of Melbourne or London (both
worthwhile events in themselves), where much contemporary New Zealand poetry has little to distinguish it from that of other English-speaking attendees due to its reliance on American models.

• Related Posts
• Bookmark
• Tags