Sharon Olds: “I complain a lot in my poetry”

Awards can. with Poetry Pulitzer and a long career behind him, one would say Sharon Olds It doesn’t need a lot of publicity. She is considered one of the most important American poets of the second half of the 20th century, but when Felipe VI pointed out on Thursday that Joan Margarit Award what he delivered helped reveal, he wasn’t the only one who thought so. At the age of 80, for her, poetry is a drink that she uses to draw out the poison left in her life by the men who loved her and tied her to a chair, from her father’s alcoholism to the troubles of divorce.

– Do you consider yourself a brave woman?

“No, I’m full of fears. I know, because fear is felt.

— In order to publicly state your private affairs, you must have a lot of courage.

— Or should. I couldn’t live without writing. My desire to do so is greater than my fear.

“Are you saying that you exorcise your demons with poetry?”

— It is a very interesting metaphor, because to exorcise means to cleanse the devil and tell him: “Get out of my head!” And I don’t want to have those angry thoughts. I grew up in a culture where children were not allowed to talk, and if they were, it was certainly not to complain, so I complain a lot in my songs. I complain and vent, because it’s not right for one group to control another. I don’t like being told what to do. Most people don’t like it. But I like to sit with my thoughts and let them fill my spirit, so in a way I give them control over my consciousness.

— Do you feel the responsibility to put into words emotions that other women cannot write?

I feel like doing it. It encourages me to try to praise the world, in large part because I am against violence. I believe that if we love our neighbor we will not attack him. I always try to calm the negative feelings in me or simply express them in a song.

— You say that the awards surprised you. Are you still not used to being praised for your work?

“Oh, it wasn’t always like that. There were many publishers who hated my songs. They’d send it back to me with nasty notes, saying “this isn’t poetry, it’s the delusions of a woman stuck at home with a baby”.

But he didn’t give up.

— No, on the contrary, they made me more determined. It’s like a protective mechanism, because I also realized that no one should tell the author that. It’s like when I was little I was told I was going to hell, but there was a little voice inside me that said, “It’s not true, you’re not going to hell.” I guess deep down I have a lot of confidence.

“If you could do one thing to change the world, what would it be?”

— I would let children in schools spend their mornings painting, dancing, writing, listening to music. Then they could study things in the afternoon. I believe that many of the crimes that occur are the result of anger that remains pent up in children’s souls without ever being given the opportunity to express it, which is why some of them end up doing horrible things when they grow up.

“Have you forgiven your parents?”

—I remember hearing someone who was a victim of serious abuse say that it’s important not to forget, but he also said that to forgive means to give yourself the freedom to not be haunted by something every day. My parents did what they could, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. I understand my mother who repeated the same sins that were done to her. To my father, not so much. Nothing at all to Trump.