Stefan Batiu: The life of an exiled poet and his songs across the sea

" Stefan Batiu: The Life of an Exiled Poet and His Songs Across the Sea

Author: Yoshiro Sakamoto

Publisher : Kotoni Publishing

Size : 135mm×195mm×40mm

Publication year: 2024

Number of pages: 654pp ​ (8-page color frontispiece)

Language : Japanese

condition : S (new)

Content

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Is there poetry or travel in these suffocating times?

Batiu believes that poetry is freedom, truth, action and revolution.

A full-scale critical biography that reveals the life of Batiu, a poet destined to wander the world, and the "world literature" of poetic solidarity that spreads across oceans!

From Romania to Switzerland, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, through Latin America to Seattle, and finally Honolulu in Hawaii.

The poet Batiu, whose life was threatened by the political situation of the time and who fought for freedom and truth, chose to spend his life traveling (in exile) with sincere words. From a remote archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, he connected poets, writers, and artists from all over the world across oceans and continents, and wove a network of solidarity based on poetry.

The poetry magazine "MELE" (Hawaiian for "poems, songs, prayers") was created by individuals exchanging words that condensed their lives, far before they were separated by national or ethnic boundaries. A small "world literature" based on the gift exchange of poetry spread across the unknown sea.

Few people know of him, who lived on the fringes of the world. A few in Japan, and very few around the world. But the work he accomplished teaches us something we must never forget in our times of division and conflict.

This book is the result of research that involved visiting the places where the poet lived, collecting scattered materials, and interviewing acquaintances and friends. It is the world's first critical biography of Stephan Batiu, and in a warm, poetic style it meticulously traces his life and the vast network of his poetry.

The first part is a heartfelt biography that closely follows the author's life, which was always accompanied by poetry, while depicting his nostalgia for the time, land, and people he lost on his journey from Romania to Hawaii ("Dor, Saudade, Aloha").

The second part focuses on MELE International Poetry Letter, a particularly important poetry journal among Batiu's vast collection of works.

The book focuses on the works of poets who participated in this global network of poetic solidarity, and sheds light on the value they have had in the literature and politics of their respective regions. It portrays MELE as a place of plurality where the languages of many worlds resonate in one place.

"MELE, a letter sent to the world from an archipelago floating in the far blue Pacific Ocean - a letter that will be inscribed with the names of all those who believe without a doubt that poetry is freedom, truth, action, and revolution, both as sender and recipient. And standing on each of our own shores, we sing." (From the MELE manifesto)

【table of contents】

Letter I

Preface

Part 1: Retrospective Biography: The Poetic Life of Stefan Batiu and His "Nostalgia"

Chapter 1: Reminiscence Biography - "The Foam of the Sea Stands Here"

Chapter 2: Romania - Brasov 1918-1937

Chapter 3: Romania - Bucharest 1937-1946

Chapter 4 Switzerland: Bern 1946-1949

Chapter 5 Brazil: Rio de Janeiro 1949-1962

Chapter 6 America: Seattle 1962-1964

Chapter 7 Hawaii: Honolulu 1964-1993

Letter II

Part 2: "MELE: International Poetry Mail" and Stefan Batiu's "The Intimate Sphere of Poetry"

Chapter 1: Songs of Freedom, Truth, Action and Revolution

Chapter 2: The descendants of Ovid - Vintila Horia and Andrei Codrescu

Chapter 3: Under the "Fable" of Ulms - Mila Simian Batiu and Victor Valeriu Martinescu

Chapter 4: Hawaii for Father and Son Charlot: Memories of Admiration and Communion for the Islands, the Sea, and the People

Chapter 5: The Seeds for the Re-Sprouting of Language: Larry Kauanoe Kimura's Hawaiian Poetry

Chapter 6: Poetry of Resistance, Intertwined Spiritualities - Thomas Merton and Pablo Antonio Cuadra

Chapter 7: Aloha to Rio de Janeiro, Saudade in the Stones of the Road - Carlos Dourmont de Andrade, Bach Mai Fam Larsson

Chapter 8: Letters of Desire Traveling Through the Archipelago

Letter III

Instead of a conclusion

Appendix: Translation as Homage: Preface to "More than a Thousand Quatrains - From Honolulu, at the Foot of Mount Tumpa"

Ioana Margineanu Batiu

Note

Acknowledgements

List of works by Stefan Batiu

List of main citations and references

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ISBN:978-4-910108-16-2 C0098