In the interspace, the joyful assaults of the day are repelled,
the sunlight filters weakly, like broken dreams,
silence reigns supreme, among persistent shadows,
where the noises of the world become distant.
Here, between walls of suspended time,
the mind takes refuge, in search of quiet,
a place of calm, a shelter defended,
from the screams of the day, from disturbing anxieties.
But even in the shadow, a small ray,
insinuates itself, bringing a faint hope,
a promise of peace, in the heart, a glow.
Oh, interspace, guardian of serenity,
protect the soul from nameless storms,
and let silence soothe every pain.
Lidia Popa was born in Romania in the locality of Piatra Șoimului, in the county of Neamț, on 16th April, 1964. She finished her studies in Piatra Neamț, Romania with a high school diploma and other administrative courses, where she worked until she decided to emigrate to Italy.
She has been living for 23 years and worked in Rome as part of the wave of intellectual emigrants since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
She wrote her first poem at her age of seven. She is a poet, essayist, storyteller, recognized in Italy and in other countries for her literary activities. She collaborates with cultural associations, literary cenacles, literary magazines and paper and online publications of Romanian, Italian and international literature. She writes in Romanian, Italian and also in other languages as an exercise in knowledge.
BOOKS
She has published her poems in six books:
in Italy:
1. ” Point different ( to be ) ” – ed. Italian and
2.” In the den of my thoughts ( Dacia ) ” – ed. bilingual Romanian/ Italian AlettiEditore 2016,
4. ” The soul of words” ed. bilingual Romanian/ Albanian Amanda Edit Verlag 2021,
5.” Syntagms with longing for clover ” ed. Romanian, EdituraMinela 2021.
6.” The Voice interior ” LidiaPopa and BakiYmeri ed. bilingual Romanian/Italian, Amanda Edit Verlag 2022.
Her poems featured in more than 50 literary anthologies and literary magazines on line from 2014 to 2023 in Italy, Romania, Spain, Canada, Serbia, Bangladesh, United Kingdom, Liban,USA,etc.
Her poems are translated into Italian, French, English, Spanish, Arabic, German, Bangladesh, Portuguese, Serbian, Urdu, Dari, Tamil, etc.
Her writings are published regularly with some magazines in Romania, Italy and abroad.
She is a promoter of Romanian, Italian and international literature, and is part of the juries of the competitions.
She translates from classical or contemporary authors who strike for the refinement and quality of their verses in the languages: Italian, Romanian, English, Spanish, French, German, stating that “it is just a writing exercise to learn and evolve as a person with love for humanity, for art, poetry and literature “.
SHE IS
*Member of the Italian Federation of Writers (FUIS)
*Honorary member of the International Literary Society Casa PoeticaMagia y Plumas Republic of Colombia,
*Member of Hispanomundial Union of Writers (Union Hispanomundial de Escritores) (UHE) and Thousands Minds For Mexico (MMMEX)
*President UHE and MMMEX Romania, August 21, 2021
*She had come power of attorney Vice-president UHE Romania, Mars18, 2021- August 21, 2021
*President UHE and MMMEX Romania, August 21, 2021
*Counselor from Italy for Suryodaya Literary Foundation Odisha India,
*Director from Italy for Alìanza Cultural Universal (ACU) Argentina
*Member Motivational Strips Oman,a member of numerous other literary groups at the level internationally,
*Director of Poetry and Literature World Vision Board of Directors (PLWV) Bangladesh
*Membership of ANGEENA INTERNATIONAL NON PROFIT ORGANISATION of Canada
International Peace Ambassador of The Daily Global Nation International Independent Newspaper from Dhaka Bangladesh – 2023
*Founder literary group Lido dell’anima with LIDO DELL’ANIMA AWARDS
*Founder LIDO DELL’ANIMA Italian magazine
*Founder SILVAE VERBORUM INTERNATIONAL multilingual magazine
But by your memory in details I would have been lost
Your passion for fairness I could never forget
How you did stand to your principles set
A poem I wrote who would think would start
A friendship so true in form as a dart
A nasty post once that made me cry
Overnight you stayed by my side
Never mentioned that I was being petty
I was struck by your patient loyalty
Days and months did pass us by
Never once to each other did we lie
For a time together we fought for a cause
Now we are too busy from different source
Still the friendship kept its glow
As our rivers to other branches flow
Strange how two strangers connect so neat
When in person we still yet have to meet
Heal with Smile
Many are the secrets of pain
With scars seen and unseen
Blood and tears a soul stain
Smile covered the past scene
Not deceit nor indifference
Pains still remain not gone
Grieve or move on’s chance
A choice where love has won
It is not a spiritual weakness
When one choose to forget
Outside one show happiness
Inside same joy one can get
Heal inside as heal outside
Inspire others forbearance
Awaken strength in reside
A smile not for appearance
Why must choose to wallow
Sink your head in filthy gutter
Why drown in sea of sorrow
Joy from other source gather
Life is hard but still beautiful
In the midst of dark seek light
Consider the glass as half full
Space to fill with greater delight
Lilian Dipasupil Kunimasa was born January 14, 1965, in Manila Philippines. She has worked as a retired Language Instructor, interpreter, caregiver, secretary, product promotion employee, and private therapeutic masseur. Her works have been published as poems and short story anthologies in several language translations for e-magazines, monthly magazines, and books; poems for cause anthologies in a Zimbabwean newspaper; a feature article in a Philippine newspaper; and had her works posted on different poetry web and blog sites. She has been writing poems since childhood but started on Facebook only in 2014. For her, Poetry is life and life is poetry.
Lilian Kunimasa considers herself a student/teacher with the duty to learn, inspire, guide, and motivate others to contribute to changing what is seen as normal into a better world than when she steps into it. She has always considered life as an endless journey, searching for new goals, and challenges and how she can in small ways make a difference in every path she takes. She sees humanity as one family where each one must support the other and considers poets as a voice for Truth in pursuit of Equality and proper Stewardship of nature despite the hindrances of distorted information and traditions.
like the torn down Berlin walls. cleansing the banks of resentment,
like the reconciliation between Mandela and De Klerk.
A tree of words, with deep roots like the olive tree of peace,
branches reaching towards a clear sky,
like the sky over Hiroshima after silence.
leaves whispering promises of calm,
like Gandhi’s prayers for non-violence.
A beacon in the dark night of conflict,
like the Statue of Liberty, a guide of hope.
its light guiding the lost, like Martin Luther King
Jr.’s moral compass pointing the way to understanding,
like the rainbow after the storm.
A mirror reflecting humanity,
like Picasso’s Guernica, testimony to horror and the need for change.
Showing its beauty, like Mona Lisa’s smile, an enigma of serenity.
Its ability to heal, like the resilience of the Japanese people.
A silent embrace, like the embrace of the peoples of Europe
after the Second World War,
enveloping broken hearts,
like the bonds of solidarity between countries
after the Indian Ocean tsunami.
Healing the wounds of war, like the reconstruction of Nagasaki.
A song of hope, like Beethoven’s hymn to joy,
a universal call to brotherhood.
A melody that resonates in the soul,
like the sound of the bells of peace.
Vibrating with the force of peace,
like the force of nature that renews life.
A legacy written in the heart of the earth,
like the sacred scriptures of all cultures,
so that future generations remember,
like the perpetual memory of the Holocaust,
that peace is possible, a future built on empathy and mutual respect.
And on the horizon, a new dawn, painted with the colors of unity
where the seeds of peace flourish, and a bright future, full of hope, lays before us.
GRACIELA NOEMI VILLAVERDE is a writer and poet from Concepción del Uruguay (Entre Rios) Argentina, based in Buenos Aires She graduated in letters and is the author of seven books of poetry, awarded several times worldwide. She works as the World Manager of Educational and Social Projects of the Hispanic World Union of Writers and is the UHE World Honorary President of the same institution Activa de la Sade, Argentine Society of Writers. She is the Commissioner of Honor in the executive cabinet IN THE EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS DIVISION, of the UNACCC SOUTH AMERICA ARGENTINA CHAPTER.
I sensed what those voices accompanied by hurtful faces
said what they imagined…
And so I grew up, strong and lonely.
Able to face any situation…
They never thought that they did not hurt me,
but that they made me grow totally independent
and with a unique strength
that no one will ever have…
Mirta Liliana Ramírez has been a poet and writer since she was 12 years old. She has been a Cultural Manager for more than 35 years. Creator and Director of the Groups of Writers and Artists: Together for the Letters, Artescritores, MultiArt, JPL world youth, Together for the letters Uzbekistan 1 and 2. She firmly defends that culture is the key to unite all the countries of the world. She works only with his own, free and integrating projects at a world cultural level. She has created the Cultural Movement with Rastrillaje Cultural and Forming the New Cultural Belts at the local level and also from Argentina to the world.
And blew a puff on my face in my childhood so that
I could get over the fearfulness
Oh dream you come so sweet
I smile on the face you stand in front of me.
Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh
10 February, 2025.
Md. Mahbubul Alam is from Bangladesh. His writer name is Mahbub John in Bangladesh. He is a Senior Teacher (English) of Harimohan Government High School, Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. Chapainawabganj is a district town of Bangladesh. He is an MA in English Literature from Rajshahi College under National University. He has published three books of poems in Bangla. He writes mainly poems but other branches of literature such as prose, article, essay etc. also have been published in national and local newspapers, magazines, little magazines. He has achieved three times the Best Teacher Certificate and Crest in National Education Week in the District Wise Competition in Chapainawabganj District. He has gained many literary awards from home and abroad. His English writings have been published in Synchronized Chaos for seven years.
Exclusive interview with writer, Dr. Maja Herman Sekulić in the Serbian electronic magazine AREA FELIX!
In the latest issue of AREA FELIX, editor Maja Milojković presents a special conversation with the most awarded Serbian writer in the world and a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, the esteemed author Maja Herman Sekulic.
Her thoughts and words illuminate the essence of literary creation and its role in today’s world.
1. Being nominated for the Nobel Prize is an exceptional honor. How did you experience this nomination, and what does it mean to you as a writer and intellectual?
MHS: The chances are slim, but the honor is immense—the greatest! I have no illusions that this could happen on the first attempt. I remember that Kipling, for example, was nominated 21 times, and as for our writers, we do not know how many times Andrić or Krleža were nominated! Or Kiš?
2. Your academic journey is impressive—you are the first Serbian woman to earn a PhD from Princeton. How has this experience shaped your literary and translation work?
MHS: I also have two master’s degrees, which is equivalent to another full doctorate, and I have now received an honorary doctorate from Mexico as well. I was engaged in translation before and during my studies, and I devoted a full decade to literary theory while writing my doctorate and teaching at the world’s top universities. I believe that translation is perhaps the best school of creative writing.
3. Your role as Vice President of the International Academy of Ethics in India and as a cultural ambassador under UNESCO speaks to your global influence. How do you see the responsibility of artists in promoting ethics and culture?
MHS: That is perhaps the greatest responsibility of artists, especially today, in the era of internet and now at the dawn of artificial intelligence, where ethical norms are not yet fully defined! Our Academy aims to introduce ethics as a subject in schools, and we have already made some progress. Recently, I chaired a two-day international conference in Pune, which is considered the Oxford of India. The response was enormous, and the conference was very successful.
4. Your books and studies are part of university curricula worldwide. Is it important to you that your works have academic relevance, or do you strive more for artistic freedom?
MHS: That depends on the genre. It’s like comparing apples and oranges.
I have artistic freedom when writing poetry and fiction, but I am academically responsible when writing essays on literary theory!
5. Your poetry is globally recognized, and you hold the title of a “Global Icon of Poetry.” What does poetry mean to you, and how do you see its role in today’s world?
MHS: Above all, I see myself as a poet. Even when writing artistic prose or fiction, my prose nurtures a poetic rhythm within the sentence. Poetry is the highest reflection of language and inner spirituality, and as such, it should illuminate our path—but without being overtly didactic, for then it becomes prose, and there are already too many such attempts, especially among so-called Facebook poets.
6. What have been the most inspiring moments in your career, whether through encounters with great literary figures or through the recognition you have received?
MHS: I have had and continue to have a very rich life—I was surrounded by great names from an early age. My father and grandfather are historical figures, and perhaps that is why I do not recognize authority, and perhaps that is also why I engage as an equal conversational partner with the world’s greatest figures, who also accept me as their equal.
7. Your novel about famous Serbo-Italian artist “Nine Lives of Milena Pavlović Barilli” is soon to be released in its second Italian edition and adapted into a film. How did you approach Milena’s character, and what fascinated you most about her story?
MHS: Not the second, but the third edition in Italy in a short time, and it was also declared the “Best Foreign Novel” there in 2022. I was particularly fascinated by a deep, intuitive connection I felt with Milena Pavlović Barilli, and later, during my research for my novel, I discovered numerous biographical parallels between us. For example, my grandfather, also a famous painter, studied at the same Academy in Munich and then fled to Paris, or I moved to the same corner of the same street where she lived in New York City before I was invited to write about her! There are no chances, no coincidences, just some parallels and synchronicities!
8. In your collection of essays and interviews “Sketches for Portraits”, you reflect on encounters with greats like Frye, Bloom, and Brodsky. Which conversation or meeting left the strongest impression on you, and why?
MHS: These were not mere encounters but years-long friendships, collaborations, and even loves. I wrote my master’s thesis on Frye and was the first to translate him into Serbian, and he included our conversation in his Collected Works. I corresponded with Bloom while translating him, and later, American Poet Laureate Mark Strand introduced us. We became so close that Bloom called me his spiritual daughter. With Brodsky, I shared an almost familial closeness and an intense recognition on his part. All of this is compiled in my book “Sketches for Portraits”, which has now reached its fourth edition.
9. How do you perceive today’s literary scene in Serbia and the world? Is there an author or movement you find particularly significant in contemporary literature?
MHS: I do not follow it closely, but there is always both good and bad literature. Facebook, for instance, has brought us an overproduction of so-called poetry that is not really poetry but has also connected us to the poets from every nook on the planet!
10. Your work serves as a bridge between cultures, languages, and artistic disciplines. If you could leave one message for future generations of artists and writers, what would it be?
MHS: Yes, I have been building bridges for over 30 years and have been a multiple ambassador of poetry, culture, and goodwill worldwide. Building bridges and understanding through culture should be our higher goal! As for writing, read as much as possible, and before publishing anything, let it rest for a while to gain critical distance from your own work—that is the most important thing!
February 17, 2025
Belgrade, Serbia
Maja Milojkovic
******
Srbija
Ekskluzivni intervju sa prof. dr Majom Herman Sekulić u elektronskom magazinu AREA FELIX iz Srbije!
U novom broju AREA FELIX-a, urednica Maja Milojković donosi vam poseban razgovor sa cenjenom književnicom i profesorkom dr Majom Herman Sekulić, čije misli i reči osvetljavaju suštinu književnog stvaralaštva i njegovu ulogu u današnjem svetu.
1.
Biti nominovan za Nobelovu nagradu je izuzetno priznanje. Kako ste doživeli tu nominaciju i šta ona znači za vas kao književnicu i intelektualku?
MHS: Šanse su male ali čast je velika, najveća! Nemam nikakve ilizije da se to može desiti iz prvog pokušaja. Zapamtila sam da je Kipling, recimo, bio kandidovan 21 put, a od naših pisaca ne znamo koliko puta su Andrić ili Krleža bili kandidovani! Ili Kiš?
2. Vaš akademski put je impresivan – prva ste Srpkinja koja je doktorirala na Prinstonu. Kako je to iskustvo oblikovalo vaš književni i prevodilački rad?
MHS: Ja imam i dve magistrature što je jednako još jednom pravom doktoratu, a sada sam dobila, počasni doktorat iz Meksika. Bavila sam se prevođenjem i pre i za vreme studija, a teorijom književnosti punu deceniju i dok sam pisala doktorat i predavala na najboljim univerzitetima na svetu. Mislim da je prevođenje možda najbolja škola kreativnog pisanja.
3. Vaša uloga potpredsednika Internacionalne Akademije etike iz Indije i ambasadora kulture pod Uneskom govori o vašem globalnom uticaju. Kako vidite odgovornost umetnika u promovisanju etike i kulture?
MHS: To je možda najveća odgovornost umetnika posebno danas u vreme interneta i sada na početku ere veštačke inteligencije gde i kada etičke norme jos nisu sasvim definitivne! Naša Akademija želi da uvede etiku kao predmet i u škole i već je po malo i uspela. Nedavno sam predsedavala dvodnevnoj međunarodnoj konferenciji u Pune, koji se smatra Oksfordom Indije. Odziv je bio ogroman i konferencija veoma uspesna.
4. Vaše knjige i studije deo su univerzitetskih programa širom sveta. Da li vam je važno da vaša dela budu i akademski relevantna, ili više težite umetničkoj slobodi?
MHS: To zavisi od žanra. I to su kruške i jabuke.
Ja sam umetnički slobodna kada pišem poeziju i fikciju, a akademski odgovorna kada pišem eseje iz teorije knjizevnosti!
5. Vaša poezija je priznata na globalnom nivou, a nosite titulu “Globalne ikone poezije”. Šta poezija znači za vas, i kako je vidite u današnjem svetu?
MHS: Pre svega vidim sebe kao pesnika i kada pišem umetničku prozu ili fikciju moja proza neguje pesnicki ritam u rečenici. Poezija je najviši odraz jezika ali i unutrašnje duhovnosti i kao takva treba da nam osvetljava put, ali da pri tome izbegava otvorenu didaktičnost jer to je onda proza a takvih pokušaja je previše naročito među tzv Facebook poets.
6. Koji su vam trenuci u karijeri bili najinspirativniji, bilo kroz susrete sa velikim imenima književnosti ili kroz priznanja koja ste dobili?
MHS: Imala sam i imam veoma bogat život – od malih nogu sam bila okružena velikim imenima, moj otac i deda su istorijske licnosti, i možda zato ne priznajem autoritete, a i možda sam zato ravnopravni sagovornik sa najvećim imenima sveta pa me oni kao takvu i prihvataju.
7. Vaš roman Devet života Milene Pavlović Barili uskoro dobija drugo italijansko izdanje i filmsku adaptaciju. Kako ste pristupili Mileninom liku i šta vas je posebno fasciniralo u njenoj priči?
MHS: Ne drugo, nego treće izdanje u Italiji za kratko vreme, a tu je i bio proglašen za “najbolji strani roman” 2022. Posebno me fascinirala neka duboka bliskost koju sam intuitivno osećala sa Milenom Pavlović Barilli, a potom i otkrivanje mnogobrojnih biografskih paralela koje sam otkrivala između nas. Naprimer moj deda, takođe poznati slikar studirao je na istoj akademiji u Minhenu, a zatim pobegao u Pariz, ili recimo da sam se preselila u isti ugao i istu ulicu u kojoj je ona živela u Nju Yorku pre nego što su me pozvali da pišem o njoj! Nema šanse, nema slučajnosti, samo neke paralele i sinhronosti.
8. U vašoj kolekciji eseja i intervjua “Skice za portrete”, osvrćete se na susrete sa velikanima poput Fraja, Bluma i Brodskog. Koji razgovor ili susret vam je ostao najupečatljiviji i zašto?
MHS: To nisu bili susreti nego višegodisnja druženja, prijateljstva, saradnje pa i ljubavi. O Fraju sam pisala magistarski rad i prva ga prevodila na srpski, a on je naš razgovor uvrstio u svoja Sabrana dela. Sa Blumom sam se dopisivala dok sam ga prevodila a potom me s njim upoznao američki pesnik laureat Mark Strend. Postali smo toliko bliski da me je Blum zvao duhovnom kćeri.
Sa Brodskim delim isto skoro porodičnu bliskost i prepoznavanje s njegove strane. Sve je to sabrano u mojoj knjizi “Skice za portrete”, koja je evo dozivela i 4. izdanje.
9. Kako doživljavate današnju književnu scenu u Srbiji i svetu? Postoji li autor ili pokret koji smatrate posebno značajnim u savremenoj literaturi?
MHS: NE pratim pomno, ali uvek ima dobre i loše literature, a to nam je doneo i Facebook – hiperprodukciju poezije koja to nije.
10. Vaš rad je most između kultura, jezika i umetničkih disciplina. Ako biste mogli ostaviti jednu poruku budućim generacijama umetnika i pisaca, šta bi to bilo?
MHS: Da, gradim mostove već preko 30 godina i višestruki sam ambasador poezije, kulture, i dobre volje u svetu. Izgradnja mostova i razumevanje kroz kulturu treba da bude naš viši cilj.
Inače, za pisanje čitajte što više a pre nego što nešto objavite i ostavite ga da miruje neko vreme da biste dobili kritičku distancu prema sopstevom delu što je najvažnije!
