Dear Friends and Readers,
I’m pleased to inform you that my first book of poems "Dans le coeur du poète - In the heart of the poet" was published today!
First of all, I would like to say that this post is not an advertisement :) - honestly, I think that only a few people like to read poetry and I don’t expect to make money with this book. And it's in French: only some of you could be interested in this... It doesn't make sense to advertise here! :)
No, in fact, there are several reasons why I decided to write about it:
1. Looking at the statistics of this blog, I noticed that, if you like lyrics translations, you also want to know more about me… - I understand that it’s quite unusual that a French fan writes in English about an Ukrainian rock band…. ;) - So, I think you’ll be very interested in this post! :)
Thanks you all!
2. I started working on this book in February 2015. But I had to stop it because the organiser of Okean Elzy’s concerts in Europe asked me to lend a hand to official communication of the band in French. It was an opportunity that I could not say no. :) And since then, the project has remained on the drawing-board…
Last February, I thought that this book should be published anyway: So, I decided that I had to work on it just after the concert to be held in Paris on March 26. That's what I did...
3. Love, hope, Ukraine & music are my main sources of inspiration. All of these themes also inspire Vakarchuk... So, in the end, I should not be surprised that writing a poem led me to his works 6 years ago today - Yes, it was a 10th of August :)
Moreover, the thing is that since I've started working on French translations of Vakarchuk's songs - in 2014 -, I've also improved my own writing style. Translating lyrics is a very good way to learn more about foreign languages, of course, but it's also a great writing exercice in itself!
Another thing is that I'm now writing my own lyrics - in French, of course... And I sometimes do it for Vakarchuk's songs. Sorry again for this, Svyatoslav !
And I also adapted into French of a famous Ukrainian popular song. What a wonderful experience!
To conclude on this point, I can say that, even if they reflect the colours of my soul, my works sometimes also have a little taste of Okean Elzy... :) Well, again, I should not be surprised about it!
4. I also have to say that one of my poems is dedicated to Svyatoslav (yes, I dared!) But not for the reasons you think. Even if... :)
Well, in 2014, I gathered ideas to write a poem about my own experience of poetics: what are the things that move me when I read a poem, why do I write poetry, what readers can understand/know about me when they read my poems...
I found the ideas, but didn't know how to build the text! The answer just seemed to pop into my head when I found this this picture on Internet:
Yes, I know what you think "Wow! What a portrait! " :)) Yes, indeed. But the thought crossed my mind immediately was the following question: "What's in your eyes and in your mind, Svyatoslav?" I tend to believe that the most interesting is not what a person looks like but what he or she most deeply is.... And now that I met Svyatoslav, I can confirm that depth is at least as interesting as appearance! Well, I leave that to your imagination... :)
So, anyway, this question gave me an idea: I would talk about the composition of poetry and poems reading by writing a portrait and I would ask the following question several times: "Do you know what is in the poet's heart?" (Of course, I should translate this text into English... An idea for another post? Why not!)
The comments I received from readers - and friends who write poetry - were that my text "Dans le coeur du poète - In the heart of the poet" describes their relationship with poetry in a very good way. So, when I started working on my book in 2015, I have come to the conclusion that its title should be "Dans le coeur du poète" because this text is an excellent synopsis of my works. And I already knew which photo to use on the book cover... :)
What's funny is that, when collecting poems to include in my book, I realized that "Coeur - Heart" is a word that is in nearly 85% of my compositions. So there's logic in all this. :)
By the way, I now know what's "in my heart of poet"... and I understood a few weeks ago that all this makes sense to me! Life is full of surprises! Although... :)
Paul Eluard
5. I would like to offer a copy of this book to Svyatoslav next time we meet. I know what he will say: "It's very French! " Yes, it is. :) But I have not lost the hope that, one day, he will learn French :) - The study of poetry or lyrics is a good way to know more about foreign languages!
This book reflects the colors of my soul and Svyatoslav already knows them all (from the darkest to the brightest). Understanding sometimes comes through emotion... So, even though today he knows almost nothing about my mother tongue, he already knows what's in this book! :)
Now I know why the name of my blog is "Okean of emotions" :) There are no coincidences, indeed!
For your information - because some of you will ask :) - please note that this book can be purchased here.
A big thank you again for your interest in this blog. :)
Cheers,
Alexa
