The Eat Sleep Write Interview: Poet: Anca Mihaela Bruma

The Eat Sleep Write Interview

Anca Mihaela Bruma

Interview conducted by 

Eat Sleep Write Poetry Editor & Writers World Poet's Corner 

 Nikki Anne Schmutz

Anca Mihaela Bruma

Country of Origin: Romania

Present us your short bio as poet/artist?

My name is Anca Mihaela Bruma, I am Romanian living in Dubai/UAE. My love for poetry started when I was just 9 years old, when I registered myself to some creative poetry writing group. It was a turning point for me as I started to discover the mysteries of the written word and its impact on the readers. I was just 6 years old when I registered myself at a public library, being fascinated by the readings. The passion for reading, composing and reciting the written words was extended to choosing the first degree, a BA in English and Romanian Philology. While a teenager, I was published in various journals of poetry. 

Since early age, I have always viewed writing poetry as the perfect medium which is able to depict profound unfathomable complexities of someone’s life or life itself, to render into words that which is unsayable, that ineffable, which can be truly deeper than the language itself. Through my writings, as well years of readings, I always looked to seek something beyond that which was apparent to others! I was fascinated to see how different aspects of truth were transfigured by different emotions, how experiences were poetized. I pursued seeing beauty expressed in all forms of art, not just poetry; creating a “thirst” within me to explore more and more for the knowledge of the mystery beneath and beyond it, as a symbol of something greater and higher with its own power to immortalize the expressions over the years

Thank you for joining me today! It is our goal to spread the word for each poet we interview! I’ll start by asking how long have you been writing and what inspired you? 

I have been writing since I was just 9 years old I guess till I was 25. A long silent period followed, and restarted to write in 2014 January again.

Is your writing genre your preferred reading genre as well? If not, what other genres interest you most?

Yes very much so.

What poets have inspired you in your own work?

At initial stage, just a teenager, I was very much influenced by Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, Avant-garde, followed in my university times by Existentialism, Surrealism, Transcendentalism. Poets from those literary currents influenced me in my own literary development as well approach of life. Lately, a huge impact had all seers in poetry, bringing lots of rumination about Life, Love etc.

Who, in your own life, has inspired you to write poetry?

I do not have a specific person, it is all cumulated experiences. I just tap into those sensations created by those experiences. Also my writings are more related to how I want a man to write to me, as if someone wrote those to me.

Are there certain reoccurring themes in your work? 

Yes: Love and Inner Journey of a Self.

When choosing a title for your poetry, how do you decide?

Most of the times I have troubles in choosing a title, as my poems are more kind of a flow, so I have to get out of that “poetic trance” and try to grasp the “main theme”.  I hardly write something with an already chosen title.

Are you working on any compilations at the moment?

At the moment the compilation I am doing is using my own poems as recitals with a background music, trying to mix together various arts, just to emphasize the intended message of my poem.

Do you know how the poem is going to end before you start or do you just let the poem write itself as you move along? 

Most of the time I just let it flow, however many times I do know the ending. The creative process is very complex, and no artist goes strictly by HOW it is supposed to be done, as it is know the creative process may be affected.

What is your favorite poem and why (yours or someone else’s)?

I cannot help but just be a very romantic person, and for me the best poem for Love is of Rabindranath Tagore “Unending Love”.  Why this poem out of so many amazing poems? Well it describes perfectly the idea of Love between twin souls, agelessly, timelessly, eternally and of course supports entirely my vision about Love.

Describe the relationship between you and your life as a poet.

I wrote a poem called “Between Real and Surreal” where I expressed it this “relationship” between Anca of day to day life and Anca the artist: “Me and Myself... between Real and Surreal... Standing on my own edge, it's my Life's ordeal...”

How many poems have you written to date, has the number that you’ve completed surpassed your expectations?

I do not recall the numbers, I personally not believe in “quantifying” the creative process. However, I believe in a very concentrated form of poetic expression, I believe in quality rather than quantity and strive for creating masterpieces rather piles of poems.

How does it feel to know that hundreds, possibly thousands and eventually millions of people will read the poetry you have created?

When I started to write again in January 2014, the feedback of people encouraged me big time telling I have a VOICE, a voice which HEALS and AWAKENS. I knew I have to continue to write and make this VOICE more known, not to polish my own ego but to “help” the readers. So, I took it as a mission! For me it does not matter if thousands or even millions of people read what I write, BUT it matters HOW many lives I challenged for good! This is my “milestone”!

Is there anything that you would like to say to aspiring poets?

Yes, to connect with the wisdom of their heart, to write from a place of Love. We writers have an important mission out there and how we impact on others’ lives. I believe any painful experience shall be transformed into something beautiful, the writing to become something transformative, educative and of course full of hope. In other words, to write with the intention to enlighten others rather than dive them more in deeper sorrow and pain. The world needs Hope, Love, Joy, we all have our traumatized experiences however it is up to us HOW we chose to use the power of the word: to build or to destroy!

What was the hardest part of writing poetry?

Good question! HOW I can transform my pain into something hopeful! My writings have lots of hope with some touch of nostalgia, however not depressing. This is something of which I am so careful when I write, what emotions I trigger in the readers’ minds. So yes, like an alchemist I transform the pain into joy and hope.

What did you enjoy most about writing poetry?

TO KNOW myself, the deeper layers of my own Being! I surprise myself when I discover new aspects of ME, new manifestation of my own Being.

What is the biggest thing that people THINK they know about poetry that it is not so?

That I write my love poetry with someone specific in my mind, which mostly is not true! I do write the sensations my own soul has, and the relationship between me and myself, like a Love relationship. As well, I write as if someone else writes that poem for me. My writings present my own inner voyages rather than take into account the external stimuli and write about it! My writings are very much internalized, processed and crystalized sensations of external stimuli, it is more a philosophy of Love, as I envision it: ageless, timeless, spaceless, eternally. As well my writings are more kind of a spiritual autobiography, depicting a reality behind all forms, with no space and time, a quantum view of Existence. It is more related with the realization of the greater self, beyond the mundane and well known laws of the society, as an expression of both the rational and the intuitive, in a concise form of poetry, increasing the awareness with new meanings expanded.

You are a person with many interests and inspirations. What truly inspires you?

Yes, indeed, and because I am so eclectic, it is hard to pin down WHAT inspires me. However, I think PATHOS, in everything!

Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?  What impact have they had on your writing?

Poets and writers influenced me in my own literary development as well approach of life. Just to mention some at that time: Dostoevsky, Camus, Kafka, William Blake, Umberto Eco, Leo Tolstoy, Emily Bronte, Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, TS Eliot, Plato, Henri Bergson, Jean Paul Sartre, Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, Carl Jung, Immanuel Kant, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Henry David Thoreau and so on.

A huge impact on me had as well the Oriental philosophies, like Taoism, Zen, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Sufism, Buddhism and so on, and all these perspectives about life made a huge impact on me and the way I approach writing nowadays. The time I did not write, for many years, it was the perfect time for me to incubate and crystallize all these knew knowledge, together with my own experiences in order to have my own signature in my own writings.

What did you find most useful in learning to write?  What was least useful or most destructive?

It is good to know various techniques in writings, and that made me to have so many approaches, I do not stick with one style, it depends on that poetic trance at that moment. I did not find anything destructive, I always find my way around.

Are you a full-time or part-time writer?  How does that affect your writing?

Writing is my hobby, part of my path. Now depends what everyone calls a “writer”: To be published? Being paid for your writings? Or writing for challenging the word for good? My humble aspiration is for the last one, to be impactful in a great way!

What are some day jobs that you have held and how have they affected your writing?

Nothing affects my writings

For those interested in exploring the subject or theme of your book, where should they start?

I have lots of descriptions done about my writings. Some done by me, some are done by my amazing co-editor, literary advocate and translator of my poems, Mr. James Cairns.  Besides my own video poetry where I explain certain things, James truly builds the bridges between my creation and the audience/readers. He is an excellent advocate of my art!

What do you think is the future of reading/writing

As the consciousness of people evolves therefore writing/reading do. Technological development has its say in this, making it more accessible to people with various means. Maybe very soon everything will be digitalized and having a hard cover book in our hands will be like something Antique. Maybe!...

How do you find or make time to write?

I do not write when I find time, I write when the inspiration “comes”.

What do you like to read in your free time?

Lots of mystic stuff.

Can you share one of your poems with us? Show us one of your favorites:

Cyberspaced Truths

I am not here to trade anymore

the cosmic runes and liquid dreams,

as Universe stumbles into its own photons...

I am here to renounce my own spectrum

with all its refracted words, rhythms

and sensationalized perfect imperfections...

Yes!... I am here... and I can hear

all these mental asymmetrical matrices

as an Ancient soul living a contemporary odyssey...

You... on the other hand

still encrypted in your structured signature

anxious of losing the conceptualized notion

of your Self!...

Between Me... and You

infinitesimally spiralling indigo pulsating

cyberspaced Truths 

of our dichroic hearts!....

..................................................

Just for you to know:

I am not an ordinary street walker!

(Anca Mihaela Bruma - 2nd February 2015)

If you have written a book, answer these:

Yes! “The Light of Our Beingness – I Am That You Are”. My second book is on its way, called “I Am! Within You –Without You!. As per my third book will be named “I Am This Intoxicated Existence”

It can be bought on: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Our-Beingness-That-You/dp/1329819659?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

http://www.lulu.com/it/it/shop/anca-mihaela-bruma/the-light-of-our-beingness-i-am-that-you-are/paperback/product-22518596.html 

How do you feel about E-books vs. print books and alternative vs. conventional publishing?

Both are good options. However when I read I love to have the book in my hands!

What makes your book stand out from the crowd?

My own trademark:  I label my own writings as being "sensually mystique" or "mystically sensual", a tool and path for women to claim their own inner feminine powers. Through my writings I overpass what seems to be the limitations of the human but emphasizing the essence of the woman, of the Goddess. The main theme, Love, is basically presented as a transformative experience in life, the energysing force in the universe and empowering the creative feminine.

How do you promote your work?

Social media mostly.

Interview with Anna Zapalska by Anca M. Bruma

Anna Zapalska

1. What inspires you to write poetry?

I write poetry because this is the biggest passion in my life and it gives me a great pleasure. Sometimes I have too many thoughts in my mind and it helps me to get them out. I never force myself to write, it rather comes suddenly and naturally, just like a storm. My inspiration comes from the moment. It can be thought, it can be painting, song, nature, etc., but always connected to my feelings in this particular time. I am also very inspired by Polish poetess Halina Poswiatowska, who was called "Poetess of love and light" 

2. When do you think a poem is “good”?

In my opinion a poem is good when I can read it and it pertains to the most important values in life. A poem should be essential and connected with the inner world at all, it itself has to speak to some universal truth. It doesn't matter if poem is short or long, the most important is "the soul" of the poem and how reader can relate to it. When poem is good, reader will stop for a while, think it over or even come back to it later.

3. Why do you write haiku?

Haiku is a poetic form that is both a literary and a spiritual level. In a few lines I can speak volumes. I like to create it, to count syllables, to choose right words, to travel through nature to final point- essence. According to me, haiku is like an apparent simplicity with a hidden deep sense within.

4. Could you tell me a little bit more about the poetry platform you are administrator?

Yes, of course. The group "Emotions: Heart 2 Heart Poetry" was created 5 years ago, in September 2011. At the beginning it was a very small and chamber group, but day by day a lot of poets and readers have been joining and today there is about 45000 members from all over the world. This is the platform dedicated to all who pen the feelings with Ink and for those who can feel their emotions. There are a lot of poets and readers, who are very creative in writing as well as commenting. They also discuss about poems, values and share their own problems with others. I try to motivate them by putting inspirational quotes, poems or organizing online events for the members of the group.

5. You are a poet but also translator of poetry. What do you think is the most important in poetry translation?

Yes I translate poems from Polish into English and vice-versa. It depends on the poem. but I think the most important is ability to make a good interpretation before translation as well as good choice of words during translation. Sometimes is necessary to find perfect words to substitute for metaphors or other figures of speech. In my opinion, translator should use not only mind, but also heart to make a good translation and to pass down to readers this what author wanted to express.

6. What do you know about KIBATEK in general? Have you heard about this Literary Foundation before or just recently?

KIBATEK 40 is an International Festival of Poetry and Literature which builds artistic and literary connection between various nations. I have heard about it recently, but day by day I know more and I am really impressed with this event.

7. What are your expectations from the KIBATEK 40 Global Poetry Festival?

KIBATEK is wonderful and very interesting event that connects people from all over the world. I am open to new challenges. I would like to know more about development of literature in other countries. It's a great opportunity to know more poets, to share poetry and own reflections. It's also chance to learn new things to broaden knowledge.

Interview with Dr. Aprilia Zank 
Theoretician of poetry, translator, poet

by Anca M. Bruma

I know that you yourself have done interviews with various well-known people. What is, in your opinion, the 'must' for an interview?

Yes, I have had the chance to meet and interview some renowned personalities such as the poet George Szirtes, winner of the T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize, David Amram, the multi-talented Beat Generation artist, Jennifer Phillips, artist and visual poet from New Zealand, just to name a few. One of the first things to keep in mind should be that each person is a unique personality, so you have to be well acquainted with his/her profile, background, formation and more, and ask the questions which are relevant for both the person interviewed and the target audience of the interview. Thus, you will be able to avoid boring, too conventional or even trivial questions.

You are a theoretician of poetry, a translator and a poet yourself. Which advice would you give to young poets, and... not only?

The first thing to tell them would be, “You are not the centre of the Universe.” –  which means that they should avoid to concentrate on their own feelings, emotions and experiences alone, but should as well open their eyes to the world around them, with its beauty and glory, but also with its problems, traumas, threats and more. Only so will they be able to access universality as poets and creators.

Your poetry is experienced by some readers as highly metaphorical, sometimes even difficult to 'decipher'. Do you agree to this?

Yes and no! I deal with language in both my scholarly and poetic realms. Unlike other forms of arts, which have specific means of expressions (colours, musical notes, etc.), poetry uses the daily language to transmit the artistic message. In order to acquire an artistic potential, this language must be 'purified' from the 'daily routine' and chiselled into something new, something unique, which challenges us, mesmerises us, touches unknown chords in our souls, and delights us with exquisite aesthetic experiences. This is not possible unless language is stylistically moulded into new syntagmata by means of metaphors, similes and the many other figures of speech. It is my endeavour and concern to refine my poetic message in the same way in which a goldsmith polishes his jewels. That is why poets are also called wordsmiths.

You are a poet but also a translator of poetry. Poetry translation is a wide topic, of course, but if you were to select the most important statement about poetic translation, which would this be?

You are right, one cannot deal with translation of poetry in just a few words, but I will try. Basically, when you translate poetry, and literature in general, you do not translate single words, you transfer feelings, states of mind, aesthetic experiences not only from a language into another, but from a certain unique artist to an audience of many individuals. So it should be the aspiration of each and every translator to recreate the resonance, the impact, the poetic message carried by the original work.

Translation has many 'faces'. One of them is translation by visual means, more specifically photography. You are a passionate photographer – do you see any or many touchpoints between poetry and photography?

Certainly! Like poetry, photography is, in my opinion, also an attempt at getting to the hidden core of things, to their mysteries or even essence. Talking in practical terms, there are workshops of creating poetry by using photographic images as prompts, or vice versa, photography contests in which photographers are expected to illustrate fragments of poetry or other literary genres with their images.

What is your experience with poetry festivals?

I have both organised and attended literary festivals, so I am privileged to have a double perspective. I organised the Literary Festival W-ORTE at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, with many guests from abroad as well, and it was a lot of work, but also a very enriching experience. We had lectures, workshops, poetry readings and free time encounters, in an intensive interaction between poets, translators, students and teachers. We also launched a bilingual anthology of parallel translations of poetry. It was not only instructive and enjoyable, but also the starting point of true friendships and further encounters in London and other places. As an participant in literary festivals in Munich and London, I tutored and took part in workshops, readings and other activities which, again, were very enriching for all those involved.

What do you know about KIBATEK in general? Have you heard about this Literary Foundation before or just recently?

I was aware of the existence of KIBATEK, but not acquainted with it in detail. At present, the more I get involved with it, the more fascinating it appears to me. It has a great programme of activities and most creditable objectives – a great platform for the promotion not only of literary excellence, but also of spiritual and humane values.

What are your expectations from the KIBATEK 40 Global Poetry Festival?

I look upon this festival as an excellent opportunity of exchange at many levels: scholarly, poetic, cultural and more. It is also a great chance to meet people from various countries and cultural communities, to share my own professional and poetic experience, and to learn new things from the other participants.

Dr. Aprilia Zank Books

Note: Dr. Aprilia Zank has gained several awards for cover books. She has designed for the KIBATEK 40, the Global Poetry Festival in Dubai, the cover book.

Other examples of her gained awards for cover books are illustrated here:

Interview with Fahredin Shehu by Anca M. Bruma

                                   

Short bio: Born in Rahovec, South East of Kosova, in 1972. Graduated at Prishtina University, Oriental Studies. Actively works on Calligraphy discovering new mediums and techniques for this specific for of plastic art. In fifteen years he operated as Independent Scientific Researcher in the field of World Spiritual Heritage and Sacral Esthetics. He won many literary awards in Kosovo and abroad. He is Laureate of Gold Medal for Poetry as Brodge to Nations- Axlepin Publishing- Philippines. He is Director of International Poetry Festival: “Poetry and Wine”, in Kosovo

What is your writing about?

I was struggling to find a balance between scientific research and artistic creation concentrating in Poetry. Focusing on the quality of writing followed by experience that is difficult to describe surely is not an easy endeavor. Writing as Vine Arbor to grafting it…to remove excess until purity is achieved, just as gold when going through fire to remove even rare rust. To write as we are silent, as we are alone and do things in solitude.

What is the relation of Man to the relation and to the Creator? What is his Correspondence? What is Art and its difference with the Craft? What is Theurgy and its difference with Revelation? The questions one addresses to himself and the burst of this manifests as output via Poetry.

What does poetry mean to you?

Conditionally said unfortunately it is a Word and necessarily resembles to other writing since there’s no other medium on that scale so the message may telepathically be conveyed to the one who receipt it. The highest form of Art is called Poetry, perhaps because we lack a proper notion to express what I really is.

Poetry for me uses Metaphor and Description, Logic and Emotion. Personally I use the entire being- Word or Number- Sufi Jaffr and Kabbalah’s Sefirot, Sound and Color, Logic and Intuition, Visible, Semi-Visible and Invisible, Sonorous, Semi- sonorous and Silent, Elements of Nature, Vegetation, Animal, Human, Love and Not-Love, Yes, Do and No of De Bono, Koan or Sutra, Art and Craft to emancipate it into the level of Theurgy. This is not eclecticism these are bricks and tools to build the Tower of POETRY or better said The Temple.

Building the Altar

The trustees have been assembled

The man, Homo Faber, Homo Gnosticus,

The Theurgist Angeloid, Eudemon, Jinni,

Angel, Archangel and Seraph

A long discussion brought few conclusions

The temple must be Spheric

the mortal shall recognize the shape of the Soap bubble

at the utmost deep valley of the heart where

the Turquoise emerald and dark green evergreen

gives freshness to the entire being

At the place turned toward the Sun

in exact proportion symmetrically

at the top of the basement; 
The Oceanic one

called Benthos

Huge crystalline table elliptic shape shall be filled

with nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs,

numbers, spheres, pyramids and all pots

terracotta porcelain diamond goblets with

crystallized dews of Pleroma

thus it shall all resemble the constellation

of all imaginable, semi-imaginable

and unimaginable universes

when the Souls of all sorts come by

to offer their quintessence at the front

of this Altar nothing but Love Divine  shall

unfurl its texture from  the role of the Universe

 …for God knows from how many flowers bee has taken the nectar to produce a lump of honey

How did you discover the Sufi World?

I was born as European Muslim inheriting a Sufi Tradition from my Family and its Spiritual Development in this realm. As for my education and refine I have studied from the World Spiritual Heritage and in particular a Transcendental Legacy and Treasures finding the Beauty of Mankind in all this palette of Diversity of the same reality. I do promote the Unity in Diversity.

My aim as artist is to offer a Spiritual Love through Poetry and Painting/ Calligraphy, to the entire Mankind and promote this value we all have to rejoice.

Mr. Shehu, how do you balance Painting/ Calligraphy with Poetry?

Through contemplation, no Force no Action, Being. I work simultaneously in several works of Art. Depends which Creative Impulse prevails.

How do you transfer your spiritual insights into poetry?

Writing the muttered word the swallowed one... Often I say: We lack Terrestrial Vocabulary for the Celestial Quest. Indeed a difficult process. I write as I’m silent, as I speak to myself. No confessions, no Psychiatrist, My self the Remembrance of Self the Gurdijjeff-ian Remembrance of Self. Cognitive process for spiritual insights and those last then outpouring either into canvas or paper.

Does Love for Poetry means to you a Love for Mankind?

If I’m allowed to be greedy and possessive because everybody says my World, my Country, my Nation my this my that etc., then I say my China is not the one of Mao but Laou Tse, my India is not of Jaina Taycoons but one of Mahawir, Vivekananda and Ramakrishna, my Spain is not of Inquisition but the Spain of Cervantes, Miro, Ibn Arabi, Maimonides, Averroes, my Romania is not of Nicolae Ceaușescu  but Romania of Mircea Eliade and Mihai Eminescu, My Iraq is not of Sadam Hussein but of Babylon, Nineveh, and Rabia Al Adewiyya, thus and yes my World is the one of Mother Teresa all embracing one.

What is your experience with poetry festival?

A) As an organizer of ”Poetry and Wine” Literary Festival

B) As a participant to other poetry festivals

As an organizer I think in two categories, one as Poet and another as Facilitator. As poet surely I did not read but was able to see people for the first time and people who never knew each other before had the opportunity to meet, exchange books, and collaborate in the future. As a facilitator to other poets a gatherings such as festivals are huge responsibility and exhaustive, yet the pleasure remains and continues. As an organizer you should understand that it is pretty huge burden but the felling of responsibility and strengthening the relationships, unification with others, new contacts, contribution to the World Literary scene, this also means economic growth for the particular area. In such events there’s no losers, everybody gains physically, artistically and spiritually.

Poetry Festivals have broadened not only my experience as poet in terms of getting to know directly from the reading of the others, their perspectives, their trends etc., they are also helpful in creation of Human and Artistic Bonds.

What experience have you gained from such literary exposures?

It all depends how much you impede seriously, how much effort and dedication, how much you are open to others. My experience is always incredible. I love Earth, I love every country and I wish to visit all countries. And every poet brings some distinction from her/his culture and heritage. The real magic happens in follow up after everything is gone. Communication afterwards, collaboration, book exchange etc.

What do you know about KIBATEK in general? Have you heard about this Literary Foundation before or just recently?

I have heard of KIBATEK earlier as I was invited some years ago in Izmir, Turkey but could not attend due to personal justified reasons. I have also been invited by respected Leyla Isik to attend in Italy but it was amidst my Festival so I again could not attend and contribute. I really look forward the upcoming edition.

What are you expectations in relation of KIBATEK 40 Global Poetry Festival?

I am looking forward to get to know other people, their work, contribute to the festival with debate and active participation.