2024-01-29 05:30:31
Retired high school professor and PhD in Hispanic Philology, Asun Blanco from Girona publishes the poetry collection Cities are not forever -the edition is bilingual and all the poems are in Spanish and Catalan-, where humanity in general and Girona in particular are very present
Are cities dying too?
The city is the place where our life takes place, and that is disappearing. In life, everything has an expiration date. The city symbolizes our own existence, that is to say our projects, our illusions…
Julio Ramón Ribeyro wrote that we must never return to the places where we were happy.
When you return to the place you once were, it is no longer the same place.
When you return to the place you once were, it is no longer the same place
Do we still care about the other people in the city?
We don’t care about anyone anymore, not even in small towns. I believe that with globalization, individualism has taken root in the world. People go their own way and don’t care what happens to others. I’m fine, I like to go unnoticed.
The loneliness of poets?
I like not caring about anyone. Girona has become so cosmopolitan that I no longer meet anyone I know on the street. Maybe they don’t see me, because I’m walking with my head down, or they see me and pass me by and don’t say anything.
With globalization, individualism has taken root in the world. People go their own way and don’t care what happens to others
Is Girona alive or dead?
Girona is alive, it has life. Now, the part of Girona that I like is the dead one, that is, the old Girona.
This postcard for tourists?
I still like it. I am happy from Plaça Catalunya. That is my city, I feel identified with it.
He dedicates many poems to the book.
On the other hand, the rest of Girona seems very ugly to me. It’s not a pretty city, it’s poorly built.
Apart from the old part, Girona seems very ugly to me. It’s not a pretty city, it’s poorly built
In a poem he talks about what boils in his heart. What boils down to you?
The man of the 21st century boils for me.
what’s wrong with you
He is an uprooted man, I wish he would return to his roots. I mean “man” as synonymous with human beings, men and women. I am troubled by everything that happens to him, all his anxieties, his needs, his suffering… I am troubled by all this and the world in which we live. The conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, for example, I follow them a lot, I am interested in everything that happens in the world
There have always been wars.
Yes, but we cannot give up the dream of peace.
You were a high school teacher. Are young people doing as badly as the PISA report suggests?
Very bad. I approved of them if they simply behaved themselves and did their homework.
That’s setting the bar very low.
I had no choice, I couldn’t fail 90% of the class. I was already satisfied. Thus he ensured that there was order in the class and he could teach those who wanted to learn.
The hopme of the 21st century is an uprooted man, I would like him to return to his roots
What book would you never make compulsory reading in high school?
I think people should read what they want, what they like, and that’s it. As Borges said, reading is a pleasure, everyone should read what gives them pleasure, even if it is a comic book. For example, I wouldn’t have put it as required reading The science tree.
We used to read this in my time
Baroja was a great writer, the book is very well written. But it is a very nihilistic book, too destructive, and I need a little hope, I see the world as too hopeless. Sometimes I read poetry and the book falls out of my hands because of so much negativity. It’s been happening for years, but now it’s exaggerated: everything is very toxic, now it’s called that. I hardly read newspapers anymore.
It’s been happening for years, but now it’s exaggerated: everything is very toxic, now it’s called that.
Think of me, I have children to feed.
(Laughs) I don’t even listen to talk radio, it’s all so distressing that I’d rather not hear about it. And there is also a lot of manipulation in the media, it becomes difficult to know what the truth is.
You only live once, as it says in another poem?
You live once, but this life deserves another. It’s too unfair a life, he really deserves another one. If you look around you see many people suffering, for many reasons. Right here, you don’t need to go to distant countries. This stirs me inside, we deserve another life.
#life #unfair #deserve