AN INTERCULTURAL EVENT. UN EVENTO INTERCULTURAL. UN EVENIMENT INTERCULTURAL

NUESTRO AMIGO, EL POETA MANUEL SILVA ACEVEDO

PREMIADO EN CHILE

Con una satisfacción especial nos alaga informales a nuestros amigos y lectores del mundo hispanico y de todo el mundo que el poeta chileno Manuel Silva Acevedo acaba de recibir el Premio Nacional de Literatura, uno de los galardones más importantes de la Republica Chilena. Valormos el hecho de que este premio sea, en primer lugar, un reconocimiento de su valor y, también, una confirmación internacional de que “Horizonte literario contemporáneo” es una revista que realmente publica y expande las creaciones de multiples autores de un real valor. Recalcamos el hecho de que Manuel Silva Acevedo ha sido publicado en la edición especial “Terra Australis” 4 (36) / 2013. Le mandamos nuestras más sinceras felicitaciones al maestro Poeta e igualmente a nuestro buen amigo Theodoro Elssaca, el presidente de la Fundación IberoAmericana.

Al final, mencionamos que Manuel Silva Acevedo recibirá también El Premio Intercultural “Aula Magna” que será para la primera vez concedido este año por la revista “Horizonte literario contemporáneo”.

El Equipo redaccional de la revista 

"Horizonte literario contemporáneo"

MANUEL SILVA ACEVEDO

(CHILE)

LOBOS Y OVEJAS

(fragmentos)

Hay un lobo en mi entraña que pugna por nacer

Mi corazón de oveja, lerda criatura

se desangra por él

Por qué si soy oveja

deploro mi ovina mansedumbre

Por qué maldigo mi pacífica cabeza

vuelta hacia el sol

Por qué deseo ahogarme en la sangre

de mis brutas hermanas apacentadas

Me parieron de mala manera

me parieron oveja

Soy tan desgraciada y temerosa

No soy más que una oveja pordiosera

Me desprecio a mí misma

cuando escucho a los lobos

que aúllan monte adentro

Yo, la oveja soñadora, pacía entre las nubes

pero un día la loba me tragó

y yo, la estúpida cordera

conocí entonces la noche, la verdadera noche

y allí en la tiniebla de su entraña de loba

me sentí lobo malo de repente

Si me dieran a optar sería lobo

Pero qué puedo hacer si esta pobre pelleja

no relumbra como la noche negra

y estos magros colmillos no muerden ni desgarran

Si me dieran a optar

los bosques silenciosos serían mi guarida

y mi aullido ominoso haría temblar a los rebaños

Pero qué hacer con mis albos vellones

Cómo transfigurar mi condición ovina.

(publicado en HLC 4 (36) / 2013)

PERFIL CULTURAL

Manuel Silva Acevedo (n. 1942, Santiago de Chile) es un poeta chileno de la llamada generación literaria de 1960, su obra poética es destacada por  importantes antologías dentro y fuera del país, y parte de ella ha sido traducida al inglés, alemán, francés, portugues e italiano.  Publicó su primer poemario, Perturbaciones, en 1967, a los 25 años y alcanzó su consagración con su segundo libro Lobos y ovejas, escrito en 1976;  Mester de bastardía (1977); Monte de Venus (1979); Terrores diurnos (1982); Palos de ciego (1986); Desandar lo andado (Canadá, 1988); Wölfe und Schafe (Munich, Alemania, 1989); Canto rodado (1995); Houdini (Libro de Artista, 1996); Suma alzada (Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1998); Cara de hereje (2000); Día Quinto (2002); Lobos y ovejas (Eloísa Cartonera, Bs. Aires, 2004); Bajo palabra (CD, 2004); Campo de amarte (2006); Como un carbón prendido entre la niebla, Poesía de Antonio Cisneros, selección y prólogo de Manuel Silva Acevedo (LOM, 2007); Escorial (México D.F., 2007); Lobos y ovejas (Ediciones Universidad Diego Portales, 2009); Contraluz (2010); Lazos de sangre (2010).

Su trabajo poético ha aparecido en antologías en Chile y en el extranjero, en países como Alemania, España, Portugal, Suecia, Francia, Rumania y Estados Unidos. Reconocimientos a su obra:  Premio Trilce-Luis Oyarzún de Poesía por Lobos y ovejas, obtenido en 1972, ante un jurado que estuvo presidido por Enrique Lihn. En 1977 recibió el premio Libro de Oro por su libro Mester de bastardia, En 1996 obtuvo Beca de la Fundación Andes y del Consejo del Libro y la Lectura. En 1997, Premio Eduardo Anguita de la Editorial Universitaria.  Nominado al Premio Altazor el año 2002 y premiado por el Circulo de Críticos de Valparaíso en 2003. Premio Nacional Jorge Tellier Universidad de la Frontera en 2012.
Manuel Silva Acevedo es un colaborador honorario de la revista "Horizonte literario contemporáneo" desde 2013. 

CONTEMPORARY HORIZONS: JOHN TISCHER (UNITED STATES - MEXICO)

The Truth: an Editorial

The truth is always positive. If the truth exposes something negative, that is a positive effect of the truth.

Some people think Mr. Trump is the same as Hitler. Certainly it's true they didn't come up with this idea themselves... it's been repeated in the MSM like a broken record.

It's true that many Americans have been brainwashed. Mind control to make Americans good consumers, for example, has been operative since just after the First Word War. The prominence of Madison Avenue is a testament to this reality.

If one objectively examines this election, it's clear that the status quo selling of Hillary is fully in motion. Popular T.V. series, like the Simpsons, have  propagandized against Mr. Trump. The MSM treats Mr. Trumps words and distorts them to create the impression he is a crypto Genghis Khan, while, at the same time, they avoid reporting the truths that Hillary is a lying,  thieving criminal likely complicit in the murders of people opposed to her.

But even the MSM has to look at the history  of, and her current corruption. What happened  with the Clinton Foundation is such a  transparent example of pay-to-play that it simply can't be ignored.

The corruption of the government, (is there any major government institution that is not corrupt?) absolved her of criminal charges, while, in the same breath, demonstrated that she was guilty as hell of those same charges.

Where is the truth in this election? Obviously, Mr. Trump is telling the truth, tho he is brash  and clumsy, hyperbolic in his rhetoric, and rubs people the wrong way. If one uses their  intelligence and looks past the slogans of the  MSM and the entertainment cabal, one sees that his positions make common sense.

America is a nation of addicts. Its people are addicted to many things...i pods...twitter...their sense of entitlement..."We're Number One!" Any lie that feeds their craving is welcome and embraced. Mr Trump represents an intervention of the American Dream.

The American Dream seemed nice when America was rescuing (read: subjugating) Japan and Germany after the Second World War...helping (read; undermining) Europe and Russia in that moral conflict (read: establishing American  hegemony).

Now, with all the problems of the world that  threaten the human species, America, (read the  1%), has taken off the kid gloves. Greed has  become transparent.

Some of the ones supporting Mr. Trump do so  because their lives are being ruined by the banks, by the education system, by a criminal government. Others back Mr. Trump because they see the truth that if Clinton is elected, if the status quo is allowed to survive, it could mean nuclear war and the end of civilization. That's the worst case scenario. But  what is certain is that the middle class will continue to be erased, radical Muslims will pour into the country and kill lots of people. And the rest of the world will continue to see America for what it is: a powerful, stupid bully, and they will form stronger alliances against it. Japan and Europe will continue to support their master. A New World Order, (read dictatorship) is on its way.

I'm with Thomas Paine: "Give me liberty or give me death" (not debt). I'll fight against a corrupt American government as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution tell me I have a right and a duty to do. If Mr. Trump is elected, perhaps there is a chance that that won't be necessary. If not, it may well be.

"Hillary Baggages" (a satirical cartoon from an US newspaper)

About the author

John Tischer (born in 1949, at Chicago, as a son of a German father and a Jewish mother) is a contemporary poet from the United States. He graduated the Carleton College in 1971 and was a student of Chogyam Trungpa in 1972. In 2004 he settled in Tepoztlan, Mexico.

John Tischer writes poetry since the 70's. A few poems from his vaste creation have been published in  “Windhorse”, a Buddhist literary magazine. He was also present with poetry on "Sleepless Nights", an electronica music radio show (KGNU, Boulder, Colorado), a dozen times in the late 1990’s. Some of his readings are available as MP3 on www.buddabomb.com

The unpublished book Café at the End of Time was written in 2013 (at the request of CLH) and it is an excellent autobiographical novel about his childhood and youth. Poetry blog (since 2007): Eggtooth Breaks Open, www.johntischer.blogspot.com

He is the author of the book “Brownian Life” (“Bibliotheca Universalis”, 2015).
John Tischer has been an honorary contributor of “Contemporary Literary Horizon” since 2011. 

CLH - A JOURNAL FOR OPEN MINDED PEOPLE

CONTEMPORARY HORIZONS: NEIL LEADBEATER (UNITED KINGDOM)

Photo by Monica Manolachi (London, 2015)

Daniel Dragomirescu: The End of a Dictatorship 

(Bibliotheca Universalis, Bucharest, Romania, 2015)

Daniel Dragomirescu is a Romanian author, essayist, publicist and editor who was born in Bucharest in 1952. He is a member of the Writers’ Union of Romania, a graduate of the Post-Secondary School of Secretariat-Stenography and External Commerce, Bucharest, and a Bachelor of the Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest. Between 1978 and 1980 he worked as assistant stenographer at the Linguistics Institute, Bucharest and subsequently in the education system before pursuing cultural and literary activities on a freelance basis. Between 2006 and 2007 he was the editor of 'Adevărul Literar din Vaslui' and in 2008 he became the founder and editor of 'Orizont Literar Contemporan' (Contemporary Literary Horizon) which is an intercultural journal with contributions in English, Spanish and Romanian. His novels include Nothing New Behind the Iron Curtain (2003); The Red Desert (2004); Dark November (2005) and Quicksand (2007).

Most of the sixteen articles and essays included in this book have been published over the last ten years in the national and local press but some are published here for the first time. Collectively they cover a number of significant topics which includes an exposéof the electoral system, a brief history of Transylvania, a crusader’s testimony about incidents from the First World War, perspectives on Russia (the old Russia and post-soviet Russia), an account of the current educational system, the horror of the Colectiv nightclub fire, an account of Nadejda Mandelstam’s novel “Hopeless”, reflections on Daniel Defoe’s character Man Friday and  the relatively peaceful demise of specific dictatorships in recent years in other parts of the world.Not surprisingly, the two themes that dominate this volume are those of democracy and dictatorship.

Politics comes to the fore in the very first essay which questions the legitimacy of political rule through the ballot box in Romania between the years 1926 and 1946. In ths essay, Dragomirescu focuses onthe campaign for the General Election in Romania in 1946 which has already been well-documented by many other writers and journalists over the years. It is widely known that this campaign was one-sided. During the process, many instances of irregularities were reported, but not carried through. As official results were announced, voting slips were immediately destroyed. The election resulted in the Communist Party and its allies achieving an overwhelming majority in the Assembly of Deputies. This changed the course of history and Dragomirescu details the extent of the corruption which was to permeate all levels of society from then onwards.

In 'Old Romania', new Romania, Dragomirescu says that we should seriously revise our concepts if we believe that after 1989 Romania has successfully reintegrated itself intothe capitalist system. On the contrary, there is every sign to suggest that the countryis still carrying the wounds of its recent past. The totalitarian regime managed to wipe out all that the country had successfully created a century before in terms of modernisation.

The essay on the education system, 'The School – a Cinderella?' points all too clearly to the need for change. Dragomirecu draws comparisons between the French education system and the Romanian one and states that although successive governments have declared education a national priority little is actually done to improve the state of education overall. Becoming a Communist country in 1947, Romania was led by tyrannical dictators Ion Anonescu and Nicolae Ceausescu until the fall of Communism in 1989. Using the schools as a platform, it sought to infiltrate the curriculum, the education was highly regimented and controlled and, although many changes have occurred since then, chronic underfunding has meant that the infrastructure needed to bring both the quality of the teaching and the actual fabric of the school buildings up to standard is sadly lacking.

In another essay, Dragmoriescu charts the history of Transylvania, which has been dominated by several different peoples and countries. Once the centre of the Kingdom of Dacia (82BC to 106AD), it became subsumed within the Roman Empire, and later came under the rule of tribes such as the Visigoths, the Huns and the Slavs and, later still, was settled by the Hungarians. Union with Romania did not come about until 1918 but even after that, border disputes continued until the Treaty of Paris in 1947 when the Northern part of Transylvania was finally returned to Romania.

The Colectiv nightclub fire, which occurred in Bucharest on 30 October 2015, is the subject of another essay.  A total of 64 people died and a further 147 were injured. The fire, which was the worst incident to happen in Romania since the Baloteşti plane crash, took place during a free concert performed by a band called Goodbye to Gravity. The use of sparkler firework candles ignited the club’s flammable polyurethane acoustic foam and the fire spread rapidly throughout the building. Mass protests over the corruption linked to the fire led to the resignation of the Prime Minister, Victor Ponta.

In these essays, Dragomirescu repeatedly speaks of the severe crisis of faith that Romanians have in their government where there is no opposition to hold anyone to account. In Democracy and responsibility he points out that “there is no democracy, in the modern sense of the word, without political pluralism.”

In his essay 'Man Friday and the Social Man' Dragomirescu asks “Is man good by nature and corrupted by society, as Jacques Rousseau considered in the 18th century?”It is a question that is pivotal to the whole history of his country and also to all of the essays to be found in this book. Leaving literary comparisons aside, Dragomirescu concludes that “Man is neither good nor bad by nature – but he turns into the one or the other during his existence, because there are all kinds of determinisms at play”. Over the years, Romania has had more than its fair share of determinisms to deal with and now, as a part of the European Union, it is learning once again to adapt to yet another step-change shaped once more by political history.

Cultural profile

Neil Leadbeater was born in Wolverhampton, England. He was educated at Repton and is an English graduate from the University of London. Author, poet, essayist and critic, his work has been published widely in anthologies and journals both at home and abroad.

His publications include Hoarding Conkers at Hailes Abbey (Littoral Press, 2010); Librettos for the Black Madonna (White Adder Press, 2011); The Worcester Fragments (Original Plus, 2013); The Loveliest Vein of Our Lives (Poetry Space, 2014) and The Fragility of Moths (Bibliotheca Universalis, 2014). An e-book, Grease-banding The Apple Trees is available as a PDF from Raffaelli Editore, Rimini.

Now based in Scotland, he is a member of the Federation of Writers (Scotland). He is also a regular reviewer for the on-line magazine 'Galatea Resurrects (A Poetry Engagement)' (USA). He has been an honorary contributor to 'Orizont Literar Contemporan' ('Contemporary Literary Horizon') since 2011 and his work has been translated into Romanian, Spanish and Swedish.

CONTEMPORARY HORIZONS

“The Future is Now”

A conversation with John Tischer,

the author of the book “Brownian Life”

  Daniel Dragomirescu: Dear Bardy, what do you think about this point of view: “CIA also behind failed coup attempt: Former Turkish army chief”? It's an interview published today in “Daily News”, a Turkish journal. I am looking with interest at your opinion.

  John Tischer: We know that the CIA was behind the formation of Al Qaeda, and after that ISIS... so, why not? They have had their hands in every overthrow of government from all those in South America, Greece, Iran... you name it.... so, I don't really need to know... I just can't imagine that, if it was bad, that they somehow wouldn't be involved. 

  DD: But why would the US and EU - Merkel and her henchmen leadership  encourage the ISIS terror Movement to kill innocent people here in Europe or in other parts of the world?!? For what is this useful, this increase of mass murder in Germany, the Trojan Horse of the inmigrants?!? What is the idea?! Make me clear about that, please, you must know.

  JT: It's "Liberalism" distorted and run amok... which is part of the New World Order  idea of one government... in order to get there, they have to destabilize the world, including making the USA lose it's power, so the whole game can be consolidated. "Liberal" because they say "we should save the refugees because it's the kind thing to do" when really all they're doing is inviting the terrorists to make America weaker... it's a false flag operation. Germany, France and Britain are already being ruined. The Brexit was a blow to the NWO, but they're already being punished economically for it. 

  DD: Yes, I'm afraid this is the truth... Maybe you'll write for CLH a larger article about it.  You are one of the few who is able, like Oedip, Laocoon or Platon, to see the cave in which we live.

  JT: What would be the title/subject?

  DD: The New Bullshit Order or something like that. 

***

  DD: And this: Trump suggests general election could be 'rigged' Is true??? The US Elections may be rigged?? 

  JT: Well, we know for certain already that the Democratic primary was rigged...and there's really no reason why they wouldn't try to rig the election if it looks like Trump has a chance to win. He's way down in the polls right now. America is a rigged system altogether...only Trump wants to try to change that. Here's a good article about how the mainstream media functions, from an historical perspective going back to the first world war:

http://www.swans.com/library/art7/ga120.html.

  DD: Thank you, man. You really are an open minded guy! 

  JT: It's because of the USA that I live in Mexico....remember that. 

  DD: I would like men as you to live in the US and people like Clinton and Co to live on Pluto or better in another galaxy.

  JT: That would be nice for me.  But, you remember, the smart Jews left Germany when they saw what was happening... (smart and rich Jews, I should say). It's the same situation in the USA now. Many people are leaving and renouncing their citizenship... not as many as the Jews, but it's the same idea. It's not the ultimate solution, but I've felt much better living down here than I did...especially the last year... in America. America is really crazy, but the people there... a lot of them... don't see it because it has come on so gradually.

  DD: Perfectly crazy is this NWO! This can't have a good future. 

  JT: The future is now.

  DD: In this case, Donald J. Trump is really our last chance. 

Tepoztlan – Bucharest, 2 August 2016

READ THE COMMENT OF 

DONALD J. TRUMP 

ABOUT THIS INTERVIEW IN CLH 4 (54)/JULY-AUGUST 2016

CLH - ALL THE WORLD IN A JOURNAL