“The writer is haunted by contradictions as well as ghosts”

The Chilean-Bolivian poet Yuri Soria-Galvarro has published “Bahía Tenóforo” (Editorial Aparte), his first book of poetry.

The author’s verses are influenced by his obsession with the sea, the southern channels and biology.

Some of the texts that make up Bahía Tenóforo were part of a compilation with which Soria-Galvarro won the Fernando Santiván Prize in 2010. These poems show us a protagonist in constant search, like a scientist exploring internal landscapes.

– You mentioned that your poems are influenced by your obsession with the sea and biology. How have these passions influenced your poetry? Could you share any personal experiences that have inspired a particular poem?

– You can write about anything based on reality or fiction, or as is often the case, a mixture of both. The important thing is that it is believable. For example, Flaubert spent years researching in libraries on certain topics that he was going to cover in his novels. Fortunately, today, there is the Internet. And it also works to resort to what is already known. I am a marine biologist and nature photographer. I have sailed for years through the channels of southern Chile, interacting with divers, fishermen and sailors. That, consciously and unconsciously, creeps into what I write.

I remember one time I was on a pontoon (floating habitable warehouse) in Magallanes, I slept in a room with about ten beds, I was the only one staying. Around three in the morning a boat arrived with replacement staff, including the cook who woke me up to tell me to get out of his bed, there were nine identical and empty beds. The man was a jerk, I left the bed with him. The next day they explained to him that I had come on instructions from management to make an evaluation, he apologized profusely, I didn’t say anything to him since the bastard was preparing the food. But I turned him into a despicable character who appears in the novel “The Condor in the Water”. The poems also have bits of stories, images, feelings, smells, a rehash of experiences and imagined things.

– How did your journey in poetry begin and what led you to write this particular book?

– A writer is not only haunted by ghosts but also by contradictions. I once believed that a writer should have won a couple of literary prizes, nothing too grand, because that could also be suspicious, something to write on the jackets of books. That is why I decided to participate in the Fernando Santiván with a story, but that year the contest was for poetry. Until then I had only written stories, so taking advantage of my insomnia I set out for a few weeks to write poetry. I won the contest and then I was overcome by something similar to shame or insecurity, which is why I never wanted to publish that work. Almost fifteen years later, the book has received new texts and mutated so much that it even changed its name, and now it is published as Bahía Tenóforo.

– You have explored different literary genres, from short stories to novels and now poetry. How has it been adapting to these different styles? Do you find that each genre allows you to express different aspects of your creativity?

– I believe in literary genres as the first commandment of literature. I know very well when I am going to write a novel or a short story. Besides, it is more convenient to write prose, I can tackle new pages every day or correct what I have written. Poetry doesn’t work for me, it comes without warning, in a haphazard way, it is a kind of melancholy, something a little sad and, if I take advantage of the moment, sometimes a poem comes out.

– What challenges have you faced when writing poetry compared to other literary genres?

– As I was saying, I cannot call upon poetry, it comes whenever it wants and only sometimes I manage to package it in a poem. Then comes the stage of correction, the words, the phrases, the images are polished, it is an artisanal and obsessive work. Poetry is freer when it comes to concatenating words, there is not always a story to tell, although I think that perhaps it is just more hidden, perhaps barely suggested. I can analyze and dissect a story like a thanatologist, I can determine how it lived and what it died of. With poetry it is more difficult for me to theorize. Deep down I have no idea how to write a poem.

– You mention that poetry comes spontaneously and unpredictably. How do you handle that sudden inspiration and how do you structure your poems? Do you have any specific rituals or techniques that you follow when writing poetry?

– Poetry comes when you are in the bathroom, in the middle of the night or waiting in line at the bank, there is no advance warning. That is why I always carry a notebook to write down ideas or verses. And it must be a Moleskine notebook because that is what Van Gogh, Picasso and Hemingway used, among others. I think that is already a ritual. Then I transfer the text to the computer and correct it for about fifteen years. And that’s it, the poem is ready.

– Your work has been recognized as fundamental for the Los Lagos Region in Chile. How does this geography and culture influence your writing? What local elements do you think are most significant in your poems from “Bahía Tenóforo”?

– I don’t think my work is fundamental for anything, much less for the Los Lagos Region, which is something ethereal, which in the end does not exist. I like to believe that I write for my friends, with whom I do not speak about what I write out of modesty, and for other friends whom I will never meet (I have published in several countries), but who can enjoy the texts and be motivated to continue reading other authors. There is a certain tendency to believe that a writer from the south must be a bit of a folklorist, writing texts with wool hats and rubber boots. I also write science fiction novels or urban stories that take place in other countries, sometimes in places I have never been. But in all my books the south, the water, the trees, and the sea sneak in. Like a good Bolivian, I am obsessed with the sea.

– With such a diverse and successful career in different literary forms, what future projects do you have in mind? Would you like to continue exploring poetry or focus on any other specific genre in your next works?

– There is a novel and a book of short stories almost ready. Two new editions of the Bestiario de Suralia, a book we made with my friend, the cartoonist Marcelo Paredes, also a second Bestiario on the way. Various projects for books of short stories and novels in different stages of progress. Poesía is the only book I have written and I promised not to write another one, unless I write it.