Interview Tanja Ajtic from Canada.
Επιμέλεια συνέντευξης: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Biography: Tanja Ajtic is from Serbia but lives in Vancouver, Canada. Her poems and stories have been published in more than two hundred collections, anthologies, electronic books and magazines. Her poem has been published in eleven languages. She published a book of poetry “Outlines of Love” in 2018. She has been awarded with many prizes and diplomas. She is currently writing poetry, short stories, haiku, gogyoshi. She artistic graphics as a freelance artist.
Please share your thoughts about the future of literature. For centuries, the West had a monopoly on art and literature, forcing its colonized countries to reject their own culture. There has been an explosion of an increasingly multicultural world that allows us to continue to uncover new stories that have remained trapped by dictatorships for centuries. The future of the book is still somewhat uncertain. Readers are used to everything being served visually. They are no longer in the habit of imagining. But it is read a lot, maybe more than ever. First, because there are many more texts and many more books, and there are other contents in the form of an abundance of portals, blogs, spaces in the digital world, social networks. The question is, what are they reading?
It is a matter of civilization. Civilization wants the opinion of the individual to disappear.
The book is a reflection on the world in silence, and we live today in a situation where we are in a huge field where we are constantly in a hurry. However, I am not worried about poetry and literature in the future. I don’t think the future of literature is entirely digital. When the movie came, the theater did not disappear. It is the same with cinematography when television was created. The key is to make the book close, accessible and interesting to people of new generations.
When you start writing? The inspiration for my writing is my Serbian language from childhood. I have been writing since I was nine years old. Writing for me is like the breathing I need, like the love in which I give myself. I find inspiration everywhere. Poems and stories just flow through me, as if I am connected to the Creator who gave me the gift of writing and art. That’s how it’s always been. I like to write about everything that surrounds me, about life, people, feelings of love, our connection with the universe, nature, and I mostly write poems. Love, it is very important for me to be filled with love in my life. I think I am an optimistic person and if sometimes I write about great pain, misunderstanding, partings and life issues.
Sometimes I also write children’s poetry, sometimes about dreams… Sometimes I spend a lot of time in my room, in the studio, where I do graphics and acrylic paintings, but I like to improve my skills on various art-related courses. I’m interested in everything.
The Good and Bad. A good one always asks questions, he is curious.
Who sets the dogmas of this world? Who writes them?
Who makes the primordial laws?
Who amuses people to make time pass faster?
Who dictates where the borders of the world are?
Who dares to play alone?
That people’s lives are being played with?
To play with the world?
Who is winning in nowadays? My poem “The World” is the answer to the question. The question reminds me of the ongoing war in several countries. From my poem “Stop the war” “…Stop the war, stop the evil because there is never a winner from war; everyone always loses.”
How many books have you written? And where can we find your books? I have so far published one book in the Serbian language “Obrisi ljubavi” but I have participated in 200 books with other poets and writers. Serbica book – Toronto, Canada (www.serbica.com). In Serbia, Belgrade and Novi Sad in some bookstores. A new book is being prepared and I think I will publish it in 2023. I have a publisher, to my satisfaction.
The Book. E-book or Hardcover book? It is not a new discovery that the internet and new media have taken the place of books.
Reading was traditionally one of the few places where, escaping from the crowd and material rush, the reader could have the joyful sensation of living far from the frenzied crowd. Now he has a greater inability to spend a lot of time reading a book without distraction, concentrating on the words and immersing himself in the story or poem. Life is fast-paced, and poets and writers must speak the language of new generations. I would like to see what happened to vinyl records it will happen to the book, to suddenly revive the media that was believed to be completely out of date. That digital worlds, as much as they take book readers, can be a very innovative, modern platform for the promotion of the best literary content. I think that one should not reject new media or new technologies, especially one should not be immune and indifferent to new sensibilities.
What will be the future? The future… life itself is a great inspiration for me because it is full of mystery, fateful events, filled with both hot and cold and in balance with the universe, between the earth and the sky, where I am, where I stand. Where I stand and think, looking at the stars, are we really alone?
Wish for the year 2022 (2023)… I’m looking forward to the beginning of December this year because I have two shows downtown in Vancouver, Canada. One is in a small gallery with one artist that will last three weeks and the other is at a Festival that will last one day on December 2, where I am a participant with my graphics.
And the wish, the wish is one, for the whole world, for there to be no war!
A phrase from your book. “Close your eyes, imagine the melody, imagine it’s for you. Banish the silence, you don’t hear anything from it, close your eyes. Do you feel the third and moderato? Try to remember the rhythm, try to move. Imagine a melody and drive away the silence, drive away. Dance, sing, live, watching”.
