في عالمٍ يلتقي فيه الإبداع بالثقافة، نجحت الشاعرة الإيطالية ماريا تيريزا ليوزو في ترك بصمة مميّزة في كلٍّ من الحياة الثقافية الإيطالية والعالميّة. ومن خلال تنقّلها بين النقد والأدب والترجمة والصحافة، حوّلت شغفها بالكلمة المكتوبة إلى مرجع أساسي داخل الفضاء الثقافي.
في حوار نشرته مجلّة أزهار الحرف، وأجرته الدكتورة جيهان الفغالي، نقترب من أبرز محطّات الرحلة الفكريّة والثقافيّة للشاعرة ماريا تيريزا الفكرية والثقافية، وكذلك الدور الذي أسهمت به تجاربها المتنوّعة في تشكيل فكرها وإثراء أعمالها الأدبية.
مقابلة مع ماريا تيريزا ليوزو
أجرتها الدكتورة جيهان رياض الفغالي
1. لقد بحثنا في قرية ساليني دي مونتيبيلو وشهدنا سحر طبيعتها وأناقة هدوئها، وهو ما يلهم أيّ شاعر أو كاتب. هل أثّر مسقط رأسك في كتاباتك منذ الطفولة؟
ج1: لا وجود للشعر من دون الطبيعة، لأنها ذلك الاخضرار غير المكتشف الذي نقل إليّ منذ طفولتي الرسالة الحية والعميقة للقيم الكونية للحياة. كنت أراقب السماء المرصّعة بالنجوم في الصيف أو تساقط الثلج على شجرة الصنوبر في الشتاء، وكأنني أحلم في عالم خيالي. لكل فصل حكايته الخاصة. كانت السعادة هي السلام، والبيت المحاط بالمروج والتلال المزهرة وحقول القمح وبساتين الحمضيات والكروم، ثم البحر بهوائه العليل ورائحة الملح الممزوجة بالورد والياسمين.
عودة السنونو ورحيله، ومداعبة الفجر، وقوس قزح من الأوراق المتطايرة، والمطر الأزرق الذي كنت أتنفسه وعيناي مغمضتان. اليوم هناك وعي أكبر، لكن الطبيعة لا تزال تفاجئني بمعجزاتها. إنها نعمة إلهية، وتمجيد للوجود والحقيقة ذات دلالة كونية. ومن خلال نَفَس الطبيعة وصوتها يتجه انتباهنا الجمالي والروحي، فيفيض بالإبداع الذي يسمح لقصائدنا أن تصل إلى أبعد الأماكن والقراء في العالم.
إن الحساسية هي الرسالة السامية التي تصل بين الشعوب، وتفتح العقول والقلوب، وتصبح رمزًا للحب الإنساني وجسرًا بين الثقافات واللغات المختلفة. ولا ننسى أن الكتابة، ولا سيما الشعر، هي امرأة عظيمة، حب عظيم وروح عظيمة. الطبيعة أمٌّ وسحرٌ صاغ أفكاري، ففتحت باب قلبها وقلّلت من وحدتي ، وكشفت لي أسرارها.
2. بصفتك مديرة المجلة الأدبية «Le Muse»، وناقدة أدبية وفنية، ومترجمة، وناشطة اجتماعية وثقافية، ومحررة في عدة صحف ومجلات إيطالية وأجنبية، هل أثّر عملك في حياتك الشخصية واحتل مكانة مهمة فيها؟
ج2: كل ما يُفعل بمحبة لا يثقل كاهلنا. يكفي أن نحسن التنظيم دون أن نخيب هذا أو نهمل ذاك، وأن نميّز بين الأشخاص والأشياء، وبين روابط الدم والمجتمع.
الأسرة هي نواة المجتمع، ولا نصر ولا ثروة تفوق قيمة الشعور والحب الذي يتجاوز الواجب.
أستطيع التوفيق بين الأمرين بتضحية كبيرة، لأن الثقافة هي بيتي الثاني، عشٌّ من الذكريات المطوية كالأوريغامي في دموع الزمن.
3. في رأيك، كيف يمكن تعريف الكاتب الناجح؟ وهل يرتبط نجاحه بشهرته؟
ج3: علينا أولًا أن نفهم ما المقصود اليوم بنجاح الكاتب أو شهرته. رأيت كثيرين لمعوا كالشهب ثم اختفوا. والمفارقة أن من لا يملكون القدرة على الحكم هم من يعلنون الفائزين، منتظرين دورهم في تبادل المصالح؛ مسرحية تتكرر ولا يتغير فيها سوى الممثلين.
كثير من الكتّاب يفتقرون إلى الحكمة والكرامة. الكاتب الحقيقي لا يسعى إلى الهيمنة أو إلى التقليل من شأن الآخرين، حتى لو كان يعلم أنه ليس الأخير. لقد كان الإفراط في استخدام وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي كارثة على المجتمع. الحقيقة لا تُقبل، والقيم الإنسانية تتداعى، وتنتشر أيديولوجيات قذرة معادية للحب والأسرة والتقاليد. ويتبع ذلك خبث وسوء نية وسطحية تبعث رسائل مثبطة ومهينة ومخيفة.
في هذا العصر تتهاوى القيم المقدسة. أين الكتّاب المشهورون؟ إنهم شخصيات صُنعت لأغراض تجارية، بلا موهبة، يؤدون كأقنعة كرنفالية في عروض زائفة لجذب الجمهور. كتابات بلا روح، كأنها من ورق معجَّن، توحي بجنازة.
4. ما أفضل صفة يمكن أن يمتلكها الكاتب أو المثقف؟
ج4: أفضل صفة هي امتلاك ترياق الحقيقة والحساسية والإنسانية والحكمة والروحانية. يجب تجاوز الحداثة نحو أفق أسمى تمثّل فيها الكتابة—وخاصة الشعر—استيعاب القيم الأخوية الإنسانية الكونية. هكذا فقط نستعيد البعد الأبدي للشعر.
الكاتب الحقيقي يساعد الموهبة على التعبير بدل قمعها. العالم بحاجة إلى الجدارة واكتشاف العقول المبدعة التي تمنح الجمال بعيدًا عن الحسد والمنافسة المريضة. الثقافة تجعلنا أحرارًا وهي مشروع المستقبل وعلامة بقائه.
5. لديك نحو 26 عملًا منشورًا من «Roots» عام 1992 إلى «Dhe tani flas» عام 2024. أيها الأقرب إلى قلبك ولماذا؟
ج5: لا أُفضّل أي عمل، منشورًا كان أم غير منشور. الكتابة حياتنا بأفراحها وأحزانها وظلالها وأنوارها وموتها وقيامتها. الكتب أبنائي؛ وهل تفرّق الأم بين أولادها؟
6. هل للتكنولوجيا أثر إيجابي أم سلبي في الأدب؟ ولماذا؟
ج6: يمكن أن يكون الأثر إيجابيًا أو سلبيًا بحسب الاستخدام. أفضل الفصول الأبدية للطبيعة حيث تلتقي الكلمة بالكون. التقنية مجرد زينة، أما الكلمة فهي حرة ومتمردة، ألم واحتجاج ورمز للحرية—كزهرة الإديلويس على القمم، رمز الشجاعة والسلام والبعث. من يحب الطبيعة يسمع صرخة الليل وحركة الأرض كالنمر الجريح وهمس الريح وصمت البياض.
7. هل هناك خيط مشترك يربط تنوع مسارك الثقافي بين الأدب والترجمة والنقد والفن والعمل التحريري؟
ج7: كانت هناك ثقافة حقيقية؛ شخصيات قرأت ودرست وعاشت، وأصبحت أسماء خالدة في الأوبرا والسينما والأدب وغيرها. كانوا يحبون الكتابة والشعر بشغف بلا تنافس.
بدأت ترجماتي بدافع المتعة، ثم طلب كثيرون أن أترجم لهم من لغات وثقافات متعددة، فبدأ تبادل ثقافي وصداقة بين الأفراد. القيم لا يدركها إلا من يعيشها في تماس مع الطبيعة، كعودة النساك إلى الغابات.
8. ما دور الكاتب عند تناوله قيم الجذور والإنسانية والعودة والأخلاق؟
ج8: هذه قيم يجب أن يمتلكها كل كاتب ويدافع عنها. على الكاتب أن يأخذ قطعة من السماء ليضمّد جراح الأرض. وحده القادر على الحب يستطيع فهم أسرار الكون. المعرفة سلاح يزرع الشك المنقذ للحياة، ويعيد قراءة التاريخ.
يجب أن يتعرف الكاتب إلى الألم الذي يطلب الحرية لأنها حقٌّ وإنجاز.
9. بعد كل هذه النجاحات، ما الخطوة التالية أدبيًا وفكريًا؟
ج9: الكاتب الحقيقي يهتم أولًا بقيم السلام، لكن كثيرين ينشرون كتبًا فارغة بدافع الظهور فقط. يتحدثون عن الحرب ولا يواجهون الكوارث والظلم والفساد. الثقافة أيضًا انضباط وفرح داخلي يولد مع الوجود. علينا تدريب عقولنا للوصول إلى الحقيقة والشفافية والحرية والكرامة.
10. ما النصيحة التي تقدمينها لمن يسعى إلى المعرفة أو الكتابة؟
ج10: أن يكون صادقًا إنسانيًا وأن يكون نفسه. الثقافة مرآة الروح ونور يقود إلى العدالة والوئام. يجب الدفاع عنها كي لا نصبح روبوتات للذكاء الاصطناعي.
الكاتب الحقيقي يعيش الحقيقة ويتحدث عن القيم الإنسانية ويحوّل العالم إلى حديقة من النور. الكتابة حياة ودم يستحقان الرعاية، وهي إعصار يهزّ الروح.
الكلمة حكمة وشعور صادق، والكاتب يتعلم قبل أن يعلّم. الروح هي التي تعيد الحياة، وما عدا ذلك كلمات تذروها الرياح.
أختتم بقول أنطونيو غرامشي:
«الثقافة تنظيم وانضباط للذات وامتلاك للشخصية ووعي بالقيمة التاريخية والحقوق والواجبات».
وأضيف أن الكتابة تتجاوز الحداثة حيث تصبح الكلمة استيعابًا للقيم الأخوية الإنسانية الكونية.
In a world where creativity meets culture, the Italian poet Maria Teresa Liuzzo has succeeded in leaving a distinctive mark on both Italian and international cultural life. Moving between criticism, literature, translation, and journalism, she has transformed her passion for the written word into a vital reference within the cultural sphere.
In an interview published by Azhar Al-Harf magazine and conducted by Dr. Jihane Al-Feghali, we explore the most significant milestones in the intellectual and cultural journey of the poet Maria Teresa, as well as the role her diverse experiences have played in shaping her vision and enriching her literary works.
1. We researched the village of Saline di Montebello and witnessed the charm of its nature and the elegance of its tranquility, something that inspires any poet or writer. Has your hometown influenced your writings since childhood?
A. 1 – There is no poetry without nature because it is precisely that unexplored green that has transmitted to me the living and profound message on the universal values of life, since I was a child. I watched the starry sky in summer or the snow fall on the pine tree in winter, it was like dreaming in a fairyland. Each season had its own story. Happiness was peace, the house surrounded by meadows, flowery hills, expanses of wheat, citrus groves, vineyards, and then the sea with the fresh air and the smell of salt mixed with that of roses and jasmine.
The return and departure of the swallows, the caress of dawn, a rainbow of swirling leaves, the blue rain that I breathed with my eyes closed. Today there is more awareness, but nature always manages to surprise me with its miracles. It is divine grace, the glorification of existence and truth with cosmic significance. Through the breath and voice of nature our aesthetic and spiritual attention is directed, exuding creativity, which allows our verses to reach the most distant places and readers in the world.
Sensitivity is the sublime message that connects peoples, opens minds and hearts, becomes a symbol of universal love and a bridge between different cultures and languages. Let us not forget that writing, and in particular poetry, is a great woman, a great love and a great Spirit. Nature is a mother, a fascination that has shaped my thoughts by opening the door of her heart, making me feel less alone, revealing her secrets to me.
2. As director of the literary magazine Le Muse, literary and art critic, translator, social and cultural activist and editor of several Italian and foreign newspapers and magazines, has your work influenced your personal life and occupied an important place in it?
A. 2 – Everything that is done with love does not weigh on us, it is enough to know how to organize oneself, without disappointing one or neglecting the other, knowing how to distinguish between persons and things, between blood relatives and society. The family is the nucleus of society, and there is no victory or wealth that can have greater value than feeling, love that goes beyond duty.
I manage to reconcile the two things with enormous sacrifice because culture is my second home, a nest of memories that are origami in the tears of time.
3. In your opinion, how would you define a successful writer? And is his success linked to his fame?
A. 3 – We need to understand what is meant today, by the success or fame of a writer. I have seen so many that have lasted like a meteor. The beauty of the situation is that it is precisely the people who are not able to judge who proclaim the winners, remaining in ”sweet expectation” to be proclaimed in turn, in a kind of favor where one hand washes the other. It is a scene that continues on an already known pantomime and persists: only the actors change.
Many writers lack common sense and dignity. The true writer does not aspire to be the first, to dominate, to put others in a bad light, even though he knows that he is not the last either. The use and abuse of social media has been the disgrace and ruin of society. Unfortunately, the truth is not accepted, we are at the extremes of human values, of anti-love, anti-family. Filthy ideologies that condemn all forms of tradition. This is followed by wickedness accompanied by bad faith and superficiality which, like an evil rain, sends discouraging, offensive and often intimidating messages.
It is well known for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, that the ”dwarfs” wait for the rise of the shadow at sunset to feel like giants, and in their ”mental-sick” stables, as accursed unconscious they occupy the pedestal because they know that they do not do it for noble ends but for greed for power… Often his anger turns into inconceivable crimes and from delinquent to criminal the step is short. Arrogance is not culture and will disappear like the swallow in a ball of sky, when the night hands down wounds of light.
In this hallucinatory era we are going through, the sacred values of humanity are collapsing. Where are all these writers who are so much talked about? They are characters created for commercial purposes, devoid of talent, who perform like carnival masks between ridiculous presentations and fake parties to attract and confuse the public. Their eyes are dull and their voices are full of moans. Writings and characters that seem to be made of papier-mâché are soulless, one has the impression of following a hearse.
4. What is the best quality a writer or intellectual can possess?
A. 4 – The best quality of a writer – or an intellectual – that he can possess is to find the antidote of truth, sensitivity, humanity, wisdom and spirituality. The old is exchanged for the new and the ancient for the modern, which is why we need to be beyond the Modern, where every form of writing and poetry in particular, are the metabolization of the alienable and universal values of human fraternity. Only in this way is it possible to recover the eternal dimension of poetry that rises beyond time.
The real writer and not the puppeteer on duty should help talent to express itself, instead of looking for a way to suppress it, because he knows he is obscured. Italy and the whole world urgently need meritocracy and talents, to discover creative minds that give others beauty, far from rivalry, or morbid envy, but light and competence in the world of writing, where the most ”smear” far from those who possess the gift and are few and rare.
Culture makes us free and it is the project for the future that with its progress leaves the mark of its permanence. The soul mates of knowledge are knowledge and culture.
5. You have about 26 published works, from Roots (1992) to Dhe tani flas (2024). What is the work that is closest to yourheart and why?
A. 5 – As I replied in a previous interview, I have not given any preference to any of my works, including the unpublished ones. Writing is our life made up of joys and sorrows, of shadows and lights, of mourning, of death and resurrection. Books are my creatures. Can a mother make differences between her children?
6. In your opinion, does technology have a positive or negative impact on literature and why?
A. 6 – Like everything, the impact can be positive or negative from the use that is made of it or the power that is exercised. I certainly prefer the eternal seasons of nature where the word meets the universe, the leaves fall without noise, the colors warm the heart, massage the chest inside a faded sweater. I believe that technique is only an ornament, because the word is not only visionary, but also free and rebellious, it is pain and indignation but also a symbol of freedom – like the edelweiss on the summit, a symbol of courage, refinement, peace, rebirth, like the secret of long loves, like a hurricane, or a wild fire. Those who love nature cannot fail to hear the cry of the night where the earth moves like a wounded tiger, where the wind hisses, the silence is white, the scratching of broken branches between sharp and subtle cries.
7. Is there a common thread that connects this cultural diversity that crowns your literary path, from literature, translation and criticism, to art and editorial leadership?
A. 7 – There was true culture, in fact those characters read, studied, frequented today are immortal names in the field of opera, non-fiction, cinema, television, literature: from Peter Russell to Luciano Pavarotti, from Vittorio De Sica to Lee Van Cliff, from Mike Bongiorno to Mario Del Monaco.
All the characters mentioned above loved writing and especially poetry. There was passion in what was done, there was no competition. Poetry was born with me and today all these indelible memories are joys and not poisons.
My translations started almost for fun, then many wrote to me asking to be translated: Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Albanian, American, Vietnamese, Indian, Serbian, Syrian, Lebanese, Spanish, Greek, Russian, etc.
A cultural exchange and sincere friendship between peoples has begun. Values can only be addressed by those who recognize them and live in contact with nature, a bit like the return of the Hermits to the woods. He will understand that every rain is always different, the shadows will seem to us of flesh and blood, the wind devours our thoughts, or shoots of snow dress our solitude, the irony of a tear that falls from the eyes of the moon lying on the bed.
8. You have written about roots, humanity, light of return and ethics. In your opinion, what role does a writer play when dealing with these values?
A. 8 – These are the values that every writer should possess and defend, this is my way of looking at things. The writer should know that reality is made of information and not of matter and reality is found in the universe, bring a piece of heaven and spread it over every wound on earth, on every scattered grave. But only those who are capable of loving are able to interpret the nature and mysteries of the cosmos. Love is a starry sky, being close to those who need help to untie their knots of anguish.
He could find his skin torn and his memory left on the barbed wire, showing bloodied hands and legs, his body bejeweled by the ink of bruises. He should be able to identify that pain that begs for freedom, which is a right and a conquest.
“We know that knowledge is the worst weapon for power, it insinuates doubt that it is the ”medicine” that saves life, that prays and works for good, that does not escape history, but redeems it.
9. After all these successes, what is the next step for you on a literary and intellectual level?
A. 9 – The true writer first of all deals with the values of peace, but in order to face them it is necessary to distinguish them and to know how to live them. Many write collecting ”crumbs” scattered between one book and another, they talk about obvious things, but for many the important thing is to publish, to show off. They delude themselves into thinking they arouse anger, but they only piti. ”Empty” books are printed around, useless, there is a lack of raw materials: science and conscience, love, transformed into increasingly large tumor masses.
They talk about war but then they do it to others, they are absent from serene and true life. They are slaves to economic interests, but they do not talk about natural disasters, deforestation, arson, murders, pandemics, pollution, indifference, immorality where destinies intersect in a whirlwind of emotions and conflicts. Tensions are created between those who want to emerge at any cost that lead them to difficult and aberrant choices. They look for unsuspected allies, they can’t stand those who are better than them. They feel obscured and unleash tensions and revolts, transforming everything that is peace and love, study, sacrifice, merit into conflict. Far from the words that drip blood, shadow and boundless depth, passion and suffering, therefore, love free from space-time limits. ”The soul is the bearer of life since it cannot receive death, it is important, we must know how to take care” (Socrates from the film by Roberto Rossellini, 1970).
We need to train our reasoning faculties, to clarify, this becomes transparency of the soul, light, communication that leads us to the truth. But all this is unknown to most who do their own interests, consider others slaves, to manipulate them at will. We need to have a straight back so as not to lose our dignity, to affirm our freedom and intelligence even when reality always tries to confuse us. Let us not forget that culture is also discipline, that inner joy that is born with being.
10. If you had to give one piece of advice to someone seeking knowledge or a writer, what would it be?
A. 10 – I would say that he is humanly true, that he is himself. Culture cannot be an empty word, it is the mirror of the soul, a small light that day and night exhorts us to fight to sow justice, to transform into harmony what makes the difference where diversity does not become hierarchy, but shared wealth. Only in this way, one day, will the earth find peace with the universe. The monstrous events of these difficult days we are going through (floods, devastation, storm surges, misery, horrors) should make us reflect. Let us not forget that culture makes us free only if it is directed towards the truth. It must be supported and defended in order not to become artificial intelligence robots.
Do not allow the face to wear masks, but achieve the spiritual redemption that is our food and the best care. The losers and deluded, feeling powerful, spread deafening noises and use any means to get what they want. But the true writer is the one who lives in the truth, who deals with life as the true artist does by talking about human values, crossing other frequencies, struggling to connect with the world without using bullying as subtle weapons. The artist, through writing, verses, painting, transforms the world into a garden and seeks light to be able to give it, escaping the very high levels of evil that the true writer faces. Writing is living and making live.
On social media you meet beggars, jackals, predators, whose intent is to appear, impose their name on the ignorant masses at any cost with the approval of those who hold the game; There is nothing collective, but a lot of personal, of revenge. That of their false actions certainly does not lead to the memory of history. What gives and restores life is the spirit when the writer is pure, the rest are and remain only words scattered like chaff in the wind. The true writer does not get confused, he stands out, he goes beyond fashionable jokes, barter, spite, he walks his own path with science and conscience.
His writing is new, it is not the fragment or the sum of the waste he collects from others, as often happens and they pretend not to notice. The valid author is an honest person and does not look for friends with the excuse of stealing his contacts. The same goes for the unscrupulous washerwomen and merchants who have been traitors for generations who feed on hatred and corruption. Time is the only guardian of memory.
The best word is wisdom, it is not an obstacle course, a prize game, money that makes you great, the word is sentiment and not sentimentality and the writer has a lot to learn before teaching and judging. Writing is an urgency that does not distract, it hits you like a cyclone, it shakes you, it conquers you, otherwise it is interrupted like a false thunder that is extinguished in its own noise.
The word is life and blood that deserves attention, that is not afraid of discomfort, the wind, the sea, the storm, fear. The true writer has always paid for structural racism, he has suffered a colonialism occupied by indifference, worse than armies. Often out of envy he is hindered because he obscures the nullities through the violence he suffers from the mediocre, it is invisibility that becomes silence, insult. All this is shameful and intolerable for culture and in a civilized country.
This meeting, a mutual gift and gratitude, I hope has added value and meaning to our friendly conversation. We both know that it is necessary to sow words as seeds of knowledge, warm, sincere, profound words that embrace the reader thirsty for infinity.
To seek the galaxies of peace and hope, to stay away from rapacious and opportunistic cliques, from fake friends, who praise and deceive them in exchange for squalid favors. It is important to continue to write about human history, to bear witness to the light and not the darkness, to write as a miracle, as a mystery that protects the beauty that the privileged know how to recognize, the hierarchy of love that makes men free.
Transcendence frightens demons, every pain can be transformed into Light. No army of fools, hypocrites and perjurers will be able to extinguish the sun, the moon or the stars.
I would like to close this interview with a thought by Antonio Gramsci: ”Culture is organization, discipline of one’s own interest, it is taking possession of one’s personality, it is the conquest of a higher consciousness, through which one is able to understand one’s own historical value, one’s own function in life, one’s rights, one’s duties” (A.G.).
And I would add that writing goes beyond the Modern, where the word becomes a metabolization of the alienable and universal values of human fraternity.
