Hani Nadim: “I am a poet, nurturing on absence”
Some say it is always a good idea to read lots of poems before talking about poetry; I was listening to your poems through your voice on Soundcloud while writing this article. And yes it is absolutely fascinating, especially the last stanza:
If I were a painter, I would sit you in front of me for hours
Under the pretext of drawing you
However, I am a poet, nurturing on absence
Vanish by and by, slightly and the poem will be completed
While traveling daily to my work at Kalamoon University at dawn, I was always fascinated by the infinite landscape of those purple mountains, harsh cliffs, green pastures. Each time, they made me reflect on how they can influence a writer or a poet, without knowing that those mountains were the homeland of a great Syrian poet, Hani Nadim, who was born in 1972 in Nabek, Kalamoon. Growing up in a pastoral surrounding, he wrote poetry from an early age, publishing his first collection of poetry at seventeen, which included a variety of literary genres: story, poetry and essay.
After this first publication, which he describes as a naïve experience, he published 4 poetry collections, 2 critical studies and 9 plays. Yet, Nadim is slowing down with poetry with a rhythmic period of five-years for each poetry collection, unlike non-poetic publications that come almost every year. “I fear poetry, and my first collection was a shock that made me more aware of the need to become a perfectionist regarding my poetry. Despite that, I have always wished I had deleted at least half of each diwan (poetry collection). However, poetry does not believe in this, it imposes itself with force and cruelty.” Nadim reveals to Syriatimes.
So, Is Nadim’s rhythm a quintet? “I have no exact rhythm, sometimes I write a diwan in a year, and in others I stay five years to complete one. It is all about my inner satisfaction, my rhythm is my own satisfaction about myself. I am always grumpy about incompleteness and imperfection every time I publish poetry.”Nadim explains.
Coleridge, the English poet and literary critic whose definition of poetry is probably the one most frequently cited, said: “prose = words in their best order; poetry = the best words in their best order”. Whereas his best friend another English poet William Wordsworth, said “poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”, I would choose Wordsworth’s, because at least he focuses on something that poetry is often undeniably about, which is feelings. Yes, poetry is an emotional flow, however leaving the poetic text in its first state, fresh from the soul’s oven, is a disputed matter between poets. Hani Nadim believes in respecting the poetic text, and sees that in order to achieve an added value to poetry the poet should rewrite his poems time after time .“Because first versions of poems are like the meadows of the steppes, they must be pruned and rearranged.”
Most probably that is why Britannica encyclopedia does not clearly define poetry but instead say (attempts of defining poetry), an obvious clue of the complexity of this literary genre that has bewildered people throughout history according to Nadim. “Poetry is undefinable. Some say it is metric rhythmic structured language; this might be one definition of blank verses. Others say it is the pneuma pardon, or the well of sentiments. In my opinion, poetry is much broader than all that was mentioned before. It is a parallel life preceding actual life and sometimes delaying it. It is a world of imagination, consciousness, thought, culture and morals in their perfections and imperfections. It is a true mirror of what happened, what does not and what will happen.”Nadim clarifies.
According to Britannica, poetry is the other way of using language. Perhaps in some hypothetical beginning of things it was the only way of using language or simply was “language tout court”, prose being the derivative and younger rival. Both poetry and language are fashionably thought to have belonged to ritual in early agricultural societies; and poetry in particular, it has been claimed, arose at first in the form of magical spells recited to ensure a good harvest. I say whatever the truth of this hypothesis, such magical effect is still present in poems and has retired to do its business upon the human spirit and not directly upon the natural world outside.
The American poet Robert Frost says: “I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering,” a quotation telling a lot of the experimental and instinctive features of writing. However, how to discover and develop this talent and passion is another matter. According to Nadim, “Writing is a path” as Al-Jarjani says. In other words, it is an unceasing workout and an unending path. Writing is accumulative; text over a text, the process of erasure and write-offs elevate the status of the final product. So is writing an urgent need? Nadim just quoted Rousseau’s saying: “Writing is a compulsive need”.
Einstein says, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Despite the fact that the Hani Nadim world is encircled by imagination, imagery, and poetry; he sees that possessing other skills – like managerial, leadership, and critical skills – will surely serve his writing career and prompt him to reach a larger audience. Yet “In the West, the main trend is having publishers and public relations companies managing the products of authors. Whereas in the Arab world, the writer is forced to market himself, which is inaccurate, especially if it is not made in its natural context,” Nadim explains.
The creative work has many aspects, the creative formation or writing (poetry – plays – song lyrics – radio programs), as opposed to marketing, managing and editing the creative work; Hani Nadim does the creative work in both directions. Where does Nadim find himself most as creative product maker or manager? Nadim clearly stated that “I believe I can create a creative content with an awareness that is completely loyal to the literary and aesthetical content; whereas I can as well manage this content with a completely separate mindset referring to skills of communication and marketing.” Nadim considers that the era after the Second World War, marked the importance of marketing and management, which has emerged in all sectors, including the publication sector that assumes the task of searching for sales outlets for the products of creative people, who are mostly not interested in this sector. “Here we are today, in the era of social media and open space in which the importance and necessity of creativeness management was confirmed to improve the creative product path.” He added.
Content is the currency of the internet, and there are millions of types that people can focus on creating digital content to engage audiences, reach new target categories, and provide value to onlookers. Blogging has been around for as long as the internet has, but the practice has become more sophisticated over the years, especially when it comes to digital content publication on social media platforms in the Arab world that is taken more seriously, and being recognized as a self-existent literary genre. According to Nadim “Electronic publishing has all rights reserved, and has even become an approved source for prosecution against plagiarism and piracy. Yet, some did not actually develop tools to recognize the dangers of publishing in this open space, I might be one of them. However, I am fully aware of what it means to launch a minuscule celestial point into this space, no matter how tiny. It might seem like a drop in an ocean; yet it is risky and needs reflection on how our tiny contribution might attract other celestial bodies that might stick to, simulate, push back or simply blow it up.”
Nadim is very assertive about the author’s responsibility towards the increased demand in the digital age for paid creative content designed for others at request, like writing (radio programs, lyrics, scripts…) for (radio stations, singers, or production company…). Nadim clearly stated, “There is no creative content written for others, it is a text that will be published under the name of its author, which is his protection and guarantee. He is the only responsible; he is the source and the downstream at the same time. Even our interlocution here is holding my intellectual views and my name, and therefore the idea of writing for others is a completely non-creative idea.”
What attracts attention is the intensity of war in literature. Is war literature a safe haven from the scourge of war? War is a source of creativity because of the density and horrible stories it can provide to work on and recycle into literature. Hani Nadim is no exception; war has put its burden over his shoulders “War literature has inspired many authors throughout history in cinema, theater, and literature. Most prominent novels are products of war literature, as well as poetry, great poetry and schools of poetry and its movements aroused during or after wars. Personally, war took a lot of joy from me and thus I produced lots of texts. War takes and gives. Nevertheless, I wish it had taken all of my poems and never was.” Nadim sighs sadly.
In many TV interviews like “Beyt Elkassed” of Zahi Wehbi or “Khawabi Elkalam” of Dr. Abeer Sharara, Nadim has revealed the impact of the place on him as a poet saying that some capitals are poetic; it is something you just feel when first encountering a city. He admits that three main capitals have impacted his poetic career: Damascus, Beirut, and Bagdad; “Damascus is my severe mother, whereas Beirut is my aunty spoiling me with candies.” He exclaimed laughing. Bagdad is Nadim’s mystic sadness dimension for his poetry, and homeland of one of his favorite poets: Al-Jawahery.
Damascus is the most poetic city for Nadim, explaining that it is the most praised place in the Arabic literature, writers, singers, painters from all the four quarters of the Arab nation have written something about Damascus. No one entered this city without being affected forever as if it is a magical spell…just like poetry.
Interview and report: Lama Alhassanieh