You are a well-known poet and translator and have published 40 poetry books until now. What has brought you here: your talent, your hard work and dedication or both of them?
Motivation. You can have an aptitude or talent for something, but that is not enough. Drive and passion for the language and all its expression possibilities are needed to develop this further. It's a lifelong process. You can only do that by staying involved in your own literary pursuits.
Was there any particular event or episode in your childhood that approached you to writing?
Yes, like many, I started writing poetry in my teens, when I was in high school. But actually, the writing started earlier because I always liked to write letters and keep diaries, out of necessity because I was in boarding school between the ages of 12-16. In hindsight it felt like a kind of prison. Your freedom was curtailed and you were always among groups of children. After that I always had trouble being in larger groups of people, tried to avoid it. Except for the fun parties, of course.
In 2008 you established Demer Uitgeverij/Demer Press, publishing anthologies and translations. How important is for you promoting the international poetry?
International poetry crosses borders and travels far beyond the known. It is very important to get to know other kinds of poetry as a mirror of your own writings. After all, there is always more under the sun.
Have you ever experienced writer's block? What do you think about it?
I don't think I've ever had that. There have certainly been times when I didn't feel like writing anymore, I was very busy with other things. During that period, I wrote some super short stories. But soon I came back to poetry.
What means translating for you: be faithful to the original or be much more creative?
Translating is reading a poem thoroughly, converting it into your own language. This is a precise job and it is important to take the original meaning, form and content with you, transport it as much as possible, to your own language. You often face choices. Intelligibility is the most important.
From your very first poetry collection (1988) “Raindrops on the water” up to your last book: Has your poetry changed? If yes, how?
Yes, in the beginning I even wrote rhyming poems, which I quickly let go because of the limitations. My poems were also shorter and more concise. In recent years I have incorporated more facets and storylines into my poems. It is therefore very similar to prose poetry.
What recommendations can you give to the young poets and writers?
Above all, read a lot, read as much as possible in addition to writing. You can learn from your predecessors and also from contemporary poets. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. The most important thing is that you show your own voice and sound.
Interview by: Irma Kurti
*Hannie Rouweler (Netherlands, Goor, 13 June 1951), poet and translator, has been living in Leusden, the Netherlands since the end of 2012. Before she lived in different places in Holland, she also stayed abroad for a longer period of time.
Her sources of inspiration are nature, love, loss, childhood memories and travel. In 1988 she made her debut with Regendruppels op het water (Raindrops on water). Since then, more than 40 collections of poetry have been published, also ten translations into various foreign languages.
Poems have been translated into about 35 languages. She attended evening classes in painting and art history, art academy (Belgium) for five years. Hannie writes on various topics. 'Poetry is in the streets, up for grabs', is an adage for her. She mixes observations from reality with imagination and gives a twist to her feelings and findings. Fantasy and imagination play an important role in her works.
She has received awards from the Netherlands and abroad, e.g., ‘best poet of the year 2021’, from the institute IPTRC voting international executive committee in China.
Hannie Rouweler followed short commercial and language courses at language institutes (Arnhem, Amsterdam, Hasselt BE). She has published several stories (including short thrillers); is editor of several poetry collections.
IRMA KURTI is an Albanian poetess, writer, lyricist, journalist, and translator. She is a naturalized Italian citizen who has been writing since she was a child.
Kurti has won numerous literary prizes and awards in Italy and Italian Switzerland. She was awarded the “Universum Donna” International Prize IX Edition 2013 for Literature and a lifetime nomination as an “Ambassador of Peace” by the University of Peace of Italian Switzerland. In 2020, she received the title of Honorary President of WikiPoesia, the Encyclopedia of Poetry. In 2021, she was awarded the title “Liria” (Freedom) by the Arbëreshë Community in Italy and in 2022, the title of Mother Foundress and Lady of the Order of Dante Alighieri of the Republic of Poets.
She is a jury member of several literary contests in Italy and a translator at the Ithaca Foundation in Spain.
Irma Kurti has published 26 books in Albanian, 20 in Italian, 11 in English and two in French. She has written about 150 lyrics for adults and children. She is also the translator of 13 books of different authors and of all her books in Italian and English. She lives in Bergamo, Italy.