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July 2006. Sheffield & Porto
| Poetry L & T: | Hi, Joseph and Alexandra, Each month PL&T looks for new web sites in the poetry world featuring poets, reviews, books and so on, to create a wider literary public. I was amazed when I found One Light*® created by you both Alexandra and Joseph. It's one of the few bilingual sites in this genre, especially in Portuguese, the language of such poets as Camões & Pessoa. Which language do you both enjoy writing in most, I mean even though Portuguese is the lesser spoken language, for poetry it could be said to be a richer and sweeter language than English. I see that Joseph has created a poetry innovation on the Haiku theme in 567 end rhymes, very effective I thought, but more difficult to translate than Haikus. |
OneLight* - Alexandra: |
Hi, Well, I’m Portuguese, this being also my native tongue, and although I have been writing poetry for many years, I haven’t ventured into poetic creation in the English language till very recently. Then, after a period of adjustment during which I wrote almost exclusively in English, I resumed writing poetry in my own language, although in a totally different style than before. For a couple of years now, I’ve been writing regularly in both languages, and I couldn’t really point out a favourite, since sometimes the inspiration sort of “strikes” in English, and then sometimes in Portuguese. On the other hand, not all of the poems “translate” equally well, so, although I do try to write as many in bilingual version as possible, this is not always feasible. So, some of them will always remain in whatever original language they were written. |
| OneLight* - Joseph: | I
have been writing poetry since my childhood, in my native language –
English, of course – and although I’ve been living in Portugal for two
years now, my knowledge of the language is not yet proficient enough to
write poetry in Portuguese. However, Alexandra has been translating
several of my poems into this language, sometimes adapting them very
slightly so that they will read harmoniously with no loss of their
original sense or “message” intended, and the result has been quite
good, two great examples being our bilingual book, “Universes Beyond
the Visible ~ Elements of Dream” and my collaborations in some
Portuguese collective poems. Now, about my innovative form of poetry,
which I have named “Tres Linhas” (literally, “Three Lines”) it really
sprung from my fondness for short verse and conveying as much thought
as possible with as few words as possible; this being one of the
reasons why I like haiku so much – actually, I have published a book
exclusively dedicated to that form. “Tres Linhas” only similarities to
haiku, however, are that it is also written in three lines and likewise
includes a reference to Nature, but my form is really intended to
celebrate a connection between Nature and spirit which must be
expressed in rhyme – and not using the haiku classical syllable count
of 5-7-5, but one of 5-6-7. I agree that the rhyme could make “Tres
Linhas” difficult, if not impossible, to translate, but it is a form
that can easily be used in any language – one day, I may even try it in
Portuguese! This form is my humble gift to the world of poetry, and it
has been very gratifying to see it received so enthusiastically. In
fact, several other poets have been writing their own “Tres Linhas”,
so… it really seems that this was a spark which has become a flame. . |
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Poetry L & T: |
OneLight, as a title is quite indicative of its theme, but what struck me was your insistence on the emphatic individuality of the artist as a means to creation. I'm also impressed by the use of visual image in your outstanding photographic gallery, metaphysical allusions of psyche and nature. |
OneLight* - Joseph: |
This is something personal that Alexandra & I conceived. We are partners in all our creative endeavours and we both use the OneLight* symbol on all our creations (poems, art, photography, etc.) such symbol being one of a shared concept, within an evolved and evolving philosophy in which Life (beliefs, quests, emotions, aims, hopes, dreams, perceptions, etc.) and Art (creations, expressions) merge, forming a Whole where individuality is, nevertheless, encouraged, protected and cherished. |
OneLight* - Alexandra: |
Yes, the concept of OneLight* emerged from something that we both spontaneously became conscious of in each other, when we met. First through poetry and texts of poetic prose shared in the public domain, then through visual arts - namely in the areas of photography, drawings, paintings and digital art - and then through a blend of both which in turn led to publishing, we found that totally different styles and approaches, like ours are, can nevertheless form perfectly harmonious creative structures as a whole. This, as we have come to perceive, as long as, in any artistic joint venture, the individuality of each partner involved is, like Joseph said, not only unconditionally respected, but also actively encouraged. In fact, in our artistic and personal mergence, we have never lost our fundamental and unique individual paths, and neither of us has ever felt the compulsion, so disastrous, invariably, in its outcome, to impersonate one another’s styles, or to restrain one another’s distinctiveness or each one’s evolution. In short, neither of us has ever sought to become the other, and neither of us has ever found light and growth by placing the other in the shade or under constraints of any kind. For us, Art, Dream, Love, and thus Life are freedom, and coalescence is not only possible, but can have amazing creative results, as long as it happens and actually “flows” naturally. |
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OneLight* - Joseph: |
As an example, one of the things we have in common is a very strong connection with Nature, which, as you have noticed, shows very clearly in our works. Now, if you look at some of my photos in our book “Universes Beyond the Visible ~ Elements of Dream”, whose central theme are the four Elements of Nature, and then read the texts complementing them, you will easily identify which one of us authored each text, because our styles are so distinctive. Yet, there is, in the match image/text, regardless of the author, an undeniable harmony. This, is OneLight*! |
Poetry L & T: |
Apart from the variety of features at this fascinating site both your published books are now available there, as well as other poets' works. |
OneLight* - Alexandra: |
Actually, for now, only our own books are available at the OneLight* online bookstore – our joint bilingual book “Universes Beyond the Visible ~ Elements of Dream”, with photography by Joseph and texts of poetry and poetic prose by him and myself, and Joseph’s two books of poetry, “Songs of Love” and “Echoes from Within – a book of Haiku”. However, to feature in our bookstore, in a near future, books by other authors, from Portugal and other countries, is a possibility that we are currently studying. On the other hand, we are already working on yet another feature, or section, that will allow other authors to present their works (published or not) in the OneLight* website; this idea evolved from a special page we added some months ago, dedicated to the most amazing essay by the American author and poet Aberjhani. So, we are hoping to be able to share the works of many other authors and poets, again from many different countries, very soon. |
OneLight* - Joseph: |
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Poetry L & T: |
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Alexandra: |
On behalf of all the co-authors of the collective poem “GENTE” (PEOPLE), thank you so much for such an enthusiastic comment, we really appreciate it! There is something that I would like to clarify, though; “ENTRECAMPOS” is the name of a very prolific and eclectic workshop of poetry, founded some years ago in Lisbon by José Gil, a Portuguese poet. Periodically, a certain theme (or a fragment of a poem or of a novel, etc.) is proposed as a basis, or a source of inspiration, for yet another collective poem; then, poets not only from Portugal, but also from Brazil, from some African countries where Portuguese is the official language, or even from other origins, their work being then translated into Portuguese, send their individual contributions for the collective creation, and these may be inspired either in the actual main theme, or in any individual collaboration which may have already been sent to the workshop. After a certain time, which may range from a couple of weeks to a month or more, depending on the subject, a meeting takes place, during which all the received fragments of the poem are re-arranged and revised, with the collaboration of as many of the co-authors as possible, and who may be physically or virtually present (via MSN, SKYPE, PALTALK, etc.). The aim is to actually achieve a natural flow, a harmony that will make the poem appear and “read” as a whole new “entity” – or as José Gil himself defines it, with a certain humour, “a poem in which everybody wrote everything”. In “GENTE”, primarily inspired in the title of a novel by a Portuguese author, João de Melo – “GENTE FELIZ COM LÁGRIMAS” (“HAPPY PEOPLE WITH TEARS”) this was certainly accomplished; there is a very harmonious flow to the whole poem, in which a record of collaborations was attained, some of the actual 20 individual authors having contributed with two, three, more fragments. As a closing reflection, I would like to add that “ENTRECAMPOS” workshop of collective poetry, is a clear demonstration, not only through “GENTE” but through many other collective creations, of the validity of OneLight*’s philosophy – not only can and will true wholeness be attained through respected and encouraged individuality, but individuality, thus diversity, can and will blend into amazing creative wholeness. |
Click Here For OneLight* - Joseph and Alexandra's poems