INTERVIEW MANEL MARI.

 

 “In order to wrire well you have to read a lot, correct even more and take advice”

It’s difficult to find a poet who, in so few years, has accumulated so many books and prizes as Manel Marí (Ibiza, 1975).  However, the poet assumes a long face when he hears the expression “young promise”.  He’s right.  He’s reached thirty and what’s more it’s been a long time since he stopped being a promise and became a firm reality.

He lives in Valencia, but he visits Ibiza regularly, where he enjoys long conversations with his group of friends.  They say his poetry is difficult but what comes easily isn’t valued.  To get close to his poetry is an adventure.

I contacted him to make a date for this interview and Manel Marí only has one condition:  “The interview has to be in a bar”.  I accept readily for two reasons:

1)  I don’t want to argue with the winner of the ‘Premio Mallorca de Poesía (2005)’ for the book ‘No pas Jo’ or of the ‘premio Senyoriu d’Ausiàs March (2004)’ for the magnificent ‘Deshàbitat’

2)  To me it’s no sacrifice to meet in the Sinio bar and share a couple of beers with who is considered to be one of the best current Ibizan poets.

Marí likes to explain himself, so I make myself comfortable and get my pen and notebook at the ready to catch his conversation in flight.

IC is Ibiza-Click,  MM is Manel Marí.

IC: “You’ve won a lot of prizes, but they say that in this country too much is published and there are too many prizes.”

MM: “That’s true.  There are lots of books published which maybe shouldn’t be.  There are too many prized competitions with unqualified juries, and then the prize winners have to be published!  They’re seldom brave enough not to award the prize.”

IC: “Lots of books for so little space in the bookshops.”

MM: “I’m in favour of giving the classics more space.  I’d even aked for my books to be removed and be replaced by the ‘Elegies de Bierville’ by Carles Ribes.  It can’t be that this book, which is an indispensable classic, can only be found in old world bookshops.  The publishers are too busy with the novelties.”

IC: “The market is inundated with rubbish-books, but the poetry reader has a very unique and defined profile.

 

MM: “The poetry readers are few but they’re highly motivated.  They know how to choose the author they’re really interested in and take no notice of the market strategies.  They’re a small public, but a faithful one.”

IC: “The poet also has a very unique and defined profile, distinct from that of the writer of prose.”

 

MM: “The difference between the writers of poetry and of prose is the distance between the writer and the text.  That distance, in poetry, is equal to zero.  The writer is his text.  The poetry is part of him, it’s his intimacy.”

IC: “In this small world where you all know each other, does who you’re in with and who you’re out with outweigh literary criteria?

MM: “I won’t deny that who you’re in or out with carries weight.  Fortunately, my personality pushes me to be in with people.  But what’s really criminal are the condescending pats on the back.  It’s hard to cope with adulators and you should avoid them like the plague.”

 

IC: “Ibiza is a long way from the main centres of publishing and culture.  Does this situation get you down?”

MM: “Do I feel on the periphery?  Yes, but poetry’s also on the periphery.  What’s more, new technologies allow you to be in contact with everybody.”

IC: “Have you been called for the famous Frankfurt Fair?”

 

MM: “Nobody’s said anything to me and I guess I won’t go.  It’s not a bother and I’m not losing any sleep over it.”

IC: “Do you think that the public media don’t do enough to back culture?”

MM: “We shouldn’t exaggerate.  I think, for example, that Catalan television’s Canal 33 has come up with some very interesting proposals.  I’m sorry to say that it’s the public institutions that don’t back culture.  If they’re afraid of an educated and culturally active society, they’ll have their reasons.”

IC: “Does Ibiza enjoy a good cultural panorama?”

MM: “To say that Culture in Ibiza is poor is ridiculous.  We’ve got a good clutch of poets, and we’ve even got dramatists!  We’re just missing a generation of novelists, though I remain optimistic.  For the ratio of inhabitants, I think this is a place with a very active culture.”

IC: “What would your advice be to a young person who’s starting to write?”

MM: “Three basic pieces of advice: read a lot, take advice and be very critical with your work.  Don’t be too lazy to revise and correct.  It’s essential never to fall into self-complacency.  Masturbation of the ego is the death of the poet.

IC: “Recommend a few poets that we shouldn’t miss.”

MM: “If we’re talking about nearby yet little known poets, I’d highlight Pau Sarradell, who’s only published one book.  There are other names, even though they’re more than well known: Jean Serra, Pep Marí, Bartomeu Ribes…all magnificent and there’s not much I can add about them. And in Valencia I advise discovering Eduard Ramírez.”