I will not be a simple verifiable fact / as long as the rumor of poetry assists me (…) Can you die / if there is someone in the world who pronounces your name? In these verses of Portrait at a certain hour, the deep faith of its author, the poet and journalist Otoniel Guevara (El Salvador, 1967), in a genre that he has not only cultivated with fervor, but has contributed to promoting, shines through.
Precisely, for being the founder of several poetry festivals in Central America, Guevara recently received the CubaPoesía Distinction for Cultural Merit, awarded within the framework of the thirtieth edition of the Havana International Poetry Festival.
Declared Grand Master in poetry by the Ministry of Culture of El Salvador, his literary work is also the national heritage of that country.
Whoever was part of the guerrilla ranks of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, is convinced that poetry is peace, “the solution to all problems.”
–Writing, where does it come from?
–First, from astonishment, then from rage. Finally, the commitment to beauty, and the truth, the whole truth.
–You have expressed that: The poet is an angel and every angel that is respected contains something demonic. To what extent is the act of making poetry an experience – enriching or heartbreaking – for your spirit?
–Life is a complete heartbreak, as well as an endless miracle. Poetry is the strength with which one rises from the dead.
–How would you define your poetry?
–Stylistically modest and vitally vibrant.
–If you were to undergo a retrospective look exercise, how much would you have left to do?
–I have a lot to read, a lot to write, a lot to talk and a little to discuss. I realize that I no longer have much to do with it. I would like to settle in the countryside, near a river, surrounded by animals, birds and books. And people who want to share a poem.
–Given the recent war scenarios that the world is experiencing, what reflection could you offer about the value of the word?
–The word has the power to solve everything, but some insist on preferring bad words: stagnant things that can only produce rot, nausea, stab wounds.
«The origin of all evil is property, that is why no one will ever be able to privatize the word; It is simply not possible, because it is the key that opens all the doors.
