THE CRY OF LOVE AND HOPES

There were times when women's literature was considered a phenomenon. Not because the themes and characters are different from those in purely masculine works. Fortunately, over time, the division of literary creativity into masculine and feminine has been abandoned as unfair and replaced by a single criterion for evaluating literary works: literature or graphomania. Themes covered by women writers are the same: love, war, friendship, life and death, crime and punishment. Means of expression, images, emotions and humour cannot be distinguished by gender. Our compatriot, screenwriter Leyla BEYIM, talks about the eternal themes in her poetry and prose skilfully, with inspiration and well-deserved success.

"Leyla-khanym, you live in the Czech Republic, far from Azerbaijan. Your works are full of nostalgia for your homeland. If you lived in Baku, in Azerbaijan, would your works had different images, themes, means of expression, colours, moods?"

"It is a difficult, although it would be logical if my works were different. But even after moving, I spend the summer with my family at our old dacha in Bilgah, where I wrote most of my poems, including the one dedicated to Muslim Magomayev and sonnets. I continue to write wherever I am. Perhaps, the most important thing for me is not the physical location, but my contact with nature. It gives the feeling of freedom and integrity with the universe, which I need for creating my works."

"Do you think that our contemporaries have become less interested in poetry and in literature in general? Anna Akhmatova once said that the love of poetry is a national trait of Russians. The French, for example, tend more toward painting. What about us, Azerbaijanis?"

"I don't quite understand how love for poetry (and for any other kind of art!) can be a national trait? Love is divine. It is in every person by nature, regardless of nationality. Look how children react to music, poetry, painting, beauty. And we, Azerbaijanis, like British and Russians, are, of course, poetic! Apart from contributions of Fuzuli, Nizami, Nasimi, and Natavan to our poetical heritage, we are historically linked with the Russian poetry as well. The spirit of European literature is also close to us. But in general, the interest of people in reading has declined. That’s true. Literature has been increasingly replaced by audio and visual sources of information. So, videos with poetry and audiobooks became more popular. It is both good and bad. But we can discuss this issue separately."

"Beyondthewall directed by Azer Aghalarov and based on your script once again became the winner of an international festival in Chile. Can you tell us about the script, the idea behind it?"

"In fact, the script is a product of my collaboration with Azer. As for the idea, in the beginning was a song, which has later became the main theme of the film. Azer is also a musician. He turned to me with a request to write a poem to his melody. That inspiration was immediate. A little later, Azer-the-writer sent me his stories. And I especially liked one of them – a short story called Rain. After reading it, I told him that it was very cinematic. But I saw another character in it, whom we could introduce to expand the borders of the original idea in time and space. That’s how I began discussions with Azer-the-director on the script. Our film was called "a unique film at the crossroads of cinema and poetry" in one of the reviews of the Rome Festival. Beyondthewall was the winner of international festivals in Vancouver, Istanbul, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Mumbai, Florence, Venezuela, Chile and California."

"How do you manage to combine your literary activity, business and family responsibilities?"

"I am surprised at how this happens indeed. But the paradox is that during periods of creative upsurge, time works for you and you do much more."

"You have a very successful literary career. Usually creative people are not successful personally or have financial problems. In other words, creativity requires sacrifice. Have you ever found yourself in a situation when you had to choose the lesser of two evils in favour of your family?"

"Yes. And I had to choose more than once. For example, with the birth of my fourth child, both my daughter and I could almost die. When they told me about that, what I regretted the most was that I would not be able to see my children and continue to work on my unfinished book. After leaving the hospital, I decided to concentrate only on what I could not live without. I temporarily suspended a very successful and promising business and engaged in what I loved, that is creativity and raising my children. And you know, since that moment on, creativity has turned from a hobby into a profession. And my children have become more successful. By the way, my sons Muhammad Jafar and El Jafar are world and European kickboxing champions."

"What about your new poetry projects? You have published several collections of poems. Do you plan to release a new book?"

"I have five poetry collections. But there are also plays and a story published separately. Many works were published in various international almanacs. As for new projects, I have recently completed the libretto and script for another film – the rock opera Immolatio. The music based on my libretto is also ready. Together with a student of Gara Garayev, composer Elkhan Mammadov, poet-translator Gulnara Hall and director Azer Aghalarov, we spent a whole year on the musical background of the opera, which Elkhan wrote for both Russian and English librettos. We plan to make a two-hour musical. I am sure that the relevance of the topic raised in the libretto and Elkhan’s inspiring music can shake up the world steeped in stereotypes and double standards. I think this project is very important for Azerbaijan. The main idea is to show the common roots of all mankind through a prism of identical ideas and spiritual values of great historical figures of the East and West, the contemporaries of Imadaddin Nasimi and Jan Hus. The main character of the film, an Azerbaijani student, who learns philosophy at the Charles University, will present Azerbaijan as a multinational country where the Oriental and European cultures have coexisted for centuries, and that the product of this coexistence is reflected in various synagogues, mosques, churches, temples of Zoroastrians in Azerbaijan. The second main line of the rock opera is, of course, love. I really want to show the world an Azerbaijani film, a rock opera. But it is not yet clear whether it will be possible to do it in Azerbaijan. We also work on a new lullaby song. The idea of the song belongs to my 8-year-old daughter Maria. As the performer of the English version of the lullaby, our American compatriot Ulviya Salayeva, noted “as if the child felt that we needed a new lullaby”. The music was composed by Azer Aghalarov. The lullaby will premiere at an international online concert in New York."

"Weeping for Garabagh, Garabagh shikestesi... What is Garabagh for you?"

"Until November 8, the word "Garabagh" would hurt me hard causing bitterness, resentment and heartbreaking sense of separation. I have reflected all these feelings in Weeping for Garabagh, which is full of love and hope, in the play Dreaming Boys, in the song My heart is Shusha written together with Anar Ibrahimov – a song that was born a month before the war, partly in my short story I love you too! written during the Patriotic War, as well as in many other poems."

"You also write stories, plays and scripts, although you’re often called a poetess. Do you also consider yourself a poetess?"

"I think the time will show who I am and each of us is. I completely trust in time."

"Tell us about your joint projects, for example, with the Israeli screenwriter Yefim Abramov. Do you have any plans to team up with someone to create another play or script?"

"Together with Yefim, we wrote several plays and the story Black Snowdrops, which has been translated into several languages and won the first place in a competition in London. Our two plays - Dreaming Boys and Black Snowdrops – have been staged by director Vagif Asadov. In the past three years, hundreds of our soldiers have watched Yarımçıqqalmış. I have also initiated a joint international project for the publication of the book The Garabagh Heart presented at Heydar Jamal Commemoration Event. The book includes poems by Khurshudbanu Natavan, Heydar Jamal and my poem dedicated to this extraordinary person from Garabagh. There have been many other joint projects implemented in many cities around the world and online. I keep very bright memories with poetic plays Leyla. Fons Vitae and Immolatio held at the Magsud Ibrahimbeyov Creativity Centre and attended by the poetess Leyla Aliyeva. They were presented as part of the International Nasimi Festival. I really love our joint work with Anna Ibrahimbeyova, which is a combination of my poetry and her amazing photographs. I would also like to mention one of our latest team works – the video clip My heart is Shusha. With the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, this song was presented in three languages just two days before our victory! There are also projects related to a short film and a new book, but it's too early to talk about them."

"Do you follow the literary life in Azerbaijan? What does make you happy or sad? What are you proud of as an Azerbaijani, as a member of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan?"

"I try as much as possible, of course. The good news is that we have many talented young people involved in numerous, well-organized literary evenings, international festivals and exhibitions, which are mostly held with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The situation with translations is a little upsetting. I believe that not enough works of Azerbaijani classics have been translated into different languages of the world. By the way, it is very important to control the quality of translations. I dream of reading the trilogy of the Azerbaijani writer Banin about Junger, which is available only in French. It is very important to publish and translate into various languages not only poetry and prose, but also research articles related to the works of our classics. After all, they are not only the property of our people, but of the whole world! I am proud to be a member of the union. And I am happy and proud to feel like a part of my country!"