Juan
Gonzalo Rose to Hildebrandt: Haya told me “you were an Aprista” and I replied “and you too”
César
Hildebrandt interviewed the poet Juan Gonzalo Rose three years before his
death, when he had already entered into a twilight attitude, without money,
affected by different ailments and completely separated from the world.
However, he allowed himself to go back and talk about his life and his poetry.
The
interview was published by Caretas magazine, in its edition
of March
10, 1980.
Source: Newspaper La Cronica Viva, Lima Peru
You have
said, heartbreakingly, that the creative forces have abandoned you, but that
you still hope for a miracle.
–It is a
way of expressing hope, dictated above all by feeling. Because, rationally, I
realize that my possibilities of creation are exhausted.
–I have
asked myself many times, Juan Gonzalo, what it was that broke him. In a poem
from Las comarcas you say: "But the great heartbreak brings only dark
nights..." Was that? Was it loneliness?
–Yes, in
part… But there are other factors. First of all, of course, time: I am 52 years
old. Then, that loneliness that we have referred to and that in my case is very
special... Because for four years I have been suffering from depression. This
depression leads me to lock myself in my room, and weeks and weeks go by and I
don't talk to anyone. In such a way that, lacking experience, there is no
material for creation. All creation is nourished by experiences…
–Does the
country, Juan Gonzalo, our reality have anything to do with your sadness?
–I think
it is possible. Without a doubt the political climate influences.
–Not just
the political climate. I was referring to the systematic mistreatment that this
country administers to its poets, its musicians, to the best of its people in
many cases...
–Yes,
feeling unstimulated, always feeling expendable, this kind of often silent
offensive, have to do with my depression but other factors also influence. For
example, Dr. Mariátegui told me that it hurts me a lot not to have any
financial security. This is true... I have reached the age I have reached and I
live supported by my mother... My mother gives me shelter and food, but
existence cannot be reduced to that. So I help myself with sporadic newspaper
articles... And my mother is already a woman who is already in her 80s.
Unfortunately, her lifespan is not going to be very long...
–You were
fired from the National Institute of Culture, right?
-Yeah.
–During
the management of Mr. Abril de Vivero?
-That's
how it is.
–Why were
you fired?
–They
didn't give me any explanation.
–How much
did you earn?
–Ten
thousand soles.
With affection,
Ruben
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