The Romani Literature Club is a unique subject in Slovakia.
Though, I can say it is unique in whole Europe.
For as much as we have had the honour to participate on an international project,
where the attendants themselves appreciated that it´s unique in Slovakia.
The Club was founded in 2009, thanks to the initiative of the Regional Association of Romani Initiatives,
what is a civic association that operates in Banska Bystrica.
I was its member and I still am
and because we took part in various realized projects,
so beside the work, we´ve been meeting up with a people, with our friends
and during the coffee debates we realized that every one of us, somehow, creates poetry or prose
and we have it hidden in a drawers.
Some of them managed to publish some of their works in Romano nevo ľil newspapers, so I knew many of them.
As we´ve been discussing, we´ve decided to make such an informal club, with this name.
At the beginning there were fourteen of us, now, after the years we are twenty two.
There would be a lot more, but unfortunately, as everything in Slovakia, this is also related to the funds.
We are 22, we come from all around the country, mostly from the middle Slovakia, of course
but basically from the east to the west.
We operate on principle of obtaining the financial resources through the projects
in a Government Office - department of the national minorities.
Thank God, we succeed every year, even though it´s not a lot of money,
at least it´s enough for publishing some collection every year, which might be dedicated
to the children or to the seniors.
Thematically, somehow, we always try to address various topics
depends on what every member, the writer, feels.
It is very important to say, that none of us have studied
any school so we could be considered as a writer, in any way.
But it is such
I don´t want to say amateur writing, because we invite some writers of repute
to our meetings, who exactly talks about the
it is exactly as it used to be in Slovakia, in the times of Štúr, where it all began
to create somehow, the national awareness
and the writers, the artists were in the centre.
So we are always identified, also our group,
as a people, who try to
even through the Romani language,
because it´s very important, that we write, well, the most of us write in Romani and also in Slovak language.
The collections are bilingual most of all because
we ship them to the community centres, to the civic associations, to the elementary schools
and we attend the meetings, discussions, debates with a students.
I try to show my colleagues, which I´m going to introduce in a while,
as a positive models, every one of them is employed, they will talk about themselves and about what they do.
And the last information, as I said, the age interface of the club
there are even 18,19, 20 years old among us,
whose optics of perception of the world, of romanipen is completely different and then there are the seniors,
who have really rich life experiences and for us, they are incredible
motivation, respect, the fact we try
to blend the old Romani world with the present one
and this is the most obvious that we are all in the one group and we manage to put it into the books.
Now, I´m going to introduce my colleagues.
I start from the left side, so, this is Ivanka Cicková, who is from Banská Bystrica.
Milan Berko, who is from Hrochoť.
And auntie Zlatka Rusová, who lives far from here, in Kameňany village, county Revúca.
I want to thank you for your time today and that you came from such a distance.
Every single writer, no matter if he writes a poetry or the prose
to me, a poetry is closer to my heart because somehow I can express more what I feel this way
the poetry, I put it into some verses, but
it is not ordered exactly, I mean we won´t say: well, and now we´re going to write something for a children
or we´re going to write about the love, you can´t dictate like this to any writer.
When he wakes up in the morning, what he feels
in his own life, maybe injustice, maybe joy,
or he just enjoy something in this moment.
He was kicked my a muse, he picks up a pen or he opens a laptop and his writing begins.
Well, I suppose that more of us write this way.
The truth is, we also use many works in our collections, the ones
that already have been written in the past.
It is happening, for example, Pavlínka Cicková, who is not here or
the colleagues, who are here, they wrote something at the age of 16-17 years
and it becomes more precious, because they make a flashback.
How they´ve been feeling about something when they were 16, 17 years old and how they feel about it now.
Myself, in my poetry, I try to write rather nationally.
I always fancy to put into my poetry, when the others
read it, that they can see that being Roma
doesn´t mean to be bad, but to be different.
It is said that Roma people have the greater sense and feeling for music
and I think the same apply to the writers.
Comparing the work that have been written about Roma, they are beautiful
but if you take the work that was written by Roma into your hand, you can feel the Roma soul.
It is very hard, in this times, in 21st century, to write about the fire and the itinerancy, known more or less only from the movies.
But we prefer to write about how the nomadic way of life, at least I feel it this way,
I try to use it to express metaphorically the ideas of multiculturalism, the ideas
of what´s happening and where our nation is leading.
As regards the writing,
I write in a Romany language, of course.
I try to combine it straight with a Slovak language, but it is kind of my professional deformation,
that I try, with my poetry, to bring the Romani language to the non-Roma reader.
He can´t talk Romani, but logically he can understand the word somehow, using the Slovak language,
and that´s some kind of a learning, too.
The most of a writers write in Slovak language, about the Roma topic.
There are eight, seven people, who directly write in Roma language.
I am very thankful for one thing, since the club was founded,
I get all works of all the members, as I have to read it, redact it and stuff ,
and in such a moment, when I´m translating it, I have them all naked in front of me.
It is something beautiful, because you can see the person,
and it´s been a years, well, you can see how he feels,
and I do not interfere their language, I want to say
even our language has been standardized, if it´s authentic
we respect absolutely the reality, it means, the Roma people from the village or the settlement
where our friend, the writer, the member comes from,
I want them to understand the language that is spoken in their village, that´s why we keep it.
And automatically, we put there also a note, saying that some of the works are in the original,
well, in the authentic form.
It would be sad and that´s why we do it, because as we know the language was standardized,
and
for the purpose of an education, when it goes to the schools, so the pupils can learn
or the students on universities, they see that the language really do
stands where it should be used as any other language.
But there are exceptions in the artistic works, so I gladly use it.
Well, it would be interesting, if they´d say their opinion on what I have said before,
from their point of view; now, Zlatka, please, tell us about how you write.
What is your motivation, you also write in Romani language.
Well, what is my motivation?
First of all, I have to say that I
just don´t write about the modern age.
I write about the old times.
And that´s why,
I was questioned many times
if I use a word Roma or Gypsy in my novels, tales and so on.
I have to use a Gypsy, because I do not write about the new age,
but I write about the old times, that passed and I write the old stories, which
I was personally told by the old Roma people.
When I go to the settlement, I find and I sit next to the old man and he starts to talk to me.
That´s something different
than this modern age.
And how did I get to using and working with the ancient Romanipen?
Well, maybe it´s because of my age and maybe it´s because
since my youth I was gathering some things, I always liked to write and I liked to read.
And I was putting aside the old tales, that I´ve heard in the settlement, in my settlement.
And there were the old Roma people, who were the musicians,
who experienced the World War II., who were in the the concentration camps.
There were women, men, who survived monstrous suffering.
And also there were, what I always say that we should write,
not only about our dances, singing,
and I don´t know what else our people used to do,
but we should add one more thing and the thing is, that in the every settlement there were a storytellers.
They were the old people and usually they were the ones, who experienced a lot.
The hard times, the bad times.
And they saw more of the world and after they´d come back to the settlement,
they already knew what to talk about.
And I was registering and putting aside all this.
After a few debates, I´ve attended, I found out, that
the kids and our youth,
they have lack of information about the World War II.
They know that it was,
that there were Jews, who were suffering a lot,
but only a few know,
that there were Roma people, too.
And that,
that moved me.
But when I started to think about it, I realized, that
if it´s in the school, if it´s I don´t know,
on universities, on high school and so on,
they are not taught about it in school.
Because only few people know about the Roma.
Besides the writing in the club, you already do have the third, beautiful book.
I always feel delighted, when I touch it by my hand as the very first one, because I pick it out of the printer, and it smells like newness.
And then we help to spread it further, to the schools.
I want to ask, you write a fairy-tales, but also the adults read it,
what do you think, is the adult person yet
and it doesn´t matter if it´s Roma or non-Roma person, able to comprehend the tale by its principles, or is it more
pleasant escape from the reality, because when the man is in the fairy-tale, everything seems different.
Well, Maroško, you would be very surprised, because
not only the kids read the fairy-tales,
but also the adults.
Maybe because they are curious.
Romani woman wrote a fairy-tales, what should it be?
Well, and
the interesting thing about it is, that
my Romani fairy-tales, really are a bit different.
But there is one thing that they have in common with the other tales,
the Slovak ones,
and that´s the happy end.
As it should be in the fairy-tales.
But the story is a little bit different, it´s about our dreams,
about our troubles, maybe,
maybe the kids will find out in the tales and
I think not only kids, but also the adults.
And Gadjo, when they read it, if we can say it this way, well Gadjos
they had stopped me and they said, that they are pretty, they are beautiful,
but they are, Mrs. Rusová, a little bit different.
Exactly, when we met for the first time and we started getting to know each other, as a writers,
I remember today, I have introduced Zlatka as a successor of Elena Lacková.
People knew, who is Lacková, of course.
This is what we are proud of and we present it every possible occasion.
And I´m even happier in connection with
Mrs. Zlatka is that during the web browsing you accidentally find an article from Czech Republic,
where they write about her and they mount her on the pedestal, well, I think that´s the satisfaction of our work and that we even exist.
The same could be said about Miňo, as well, even he is from completely different age category
and he has absolutely different style of writing, try to tell us about it
rather poetry, prose, what, why you write?
To the poetry itself,
I got to it, somehow, when my teacher
at the elementary school said to me: Let´s write something.
And thanks to her, little by little, I gained the experiences.
The follower of her and I proudly proclaim it and I always will
say it, that her follower became Mrs.
deceased Danielka Šilanová.
I mean, Mrs. Šilanová, I was
I always needed to be kicked to poetry.
If it was my teacher, Mrs. Vítková, or if it was Mrs. Šilanová, who probably saw a potential in me.
But I needed to be kicked somehow, admonished, I always hated it.
Now her follower is mister Balog, here,
who always calls me and he always gives me my time, to write somehow and edit, modify.
I consider myself a poet,
a minstrel, commercial as well.
And that´s why it looks how it looks, but
in my poetry, I try to use, and maybe that makes me different,
well, so, I try to use the equivocates.
It means, the words like mask, love, these are a simple words.
I like the ones, that I take the foreignism and I try to dress it up, the word.
Simply, and then I turn the word into the one of double meaning.
But after I was requested by you and I became
the part of the club, what is a honour for me,
so I learned how to feel and write nationally.
I have learned, because we, as a club, we belong together
and we motivate each other. I´ve never been writing the prose,
well, but after reading the works of Mrs. Rusová,
I tried something as well, because we can see that
the wisdom that is in the books,
it experienced a lot.
But we can say, that someone of us experienced something similar, but he wants to write it a little bit different, from his own perspective.
For example, when I look at Ivanka, about the family, about the kids
and so on, so maybe I wouldn´t be able to feel it that deeply, as Iva.
Miňo, you´ve said several times, that you write differently, you used the word different few times.
Everyone of us, who belongs to this club, write differently, that´s why it is so valuable
that everyone finds some new point of view,
of perception of the poetry and prose and that´s why whole this fellowship.
I have a wish, that every one of us, will publish his own book one day.
And we are heading towards it slowly, because already the fourth person is writing his stuff.
But it is unique, and I compare it with some sport club, because we always manage to harmonize
our works, so if somebody opens the book, he would find
exactly what he´s looking for in the book.
As I said before, that we all write differently, you, Ivka, you are also situated otherwise in your works.
When I translate your works, as well as Miňo have said, well,
I feel there the femininity ,a lot,
as well as the national, Romani, of course, but you are
different, I use the same word as the other members.
Well, try to tell us, what do you write and why do you write.
I got here thanks to you.
We were having a cup of coffee and we were talking about
what we have in common, and we get to know each other for ages, Maroš, since 1995.
And that´s such a long time and
so we said we will write and let´s try something
and as I was co-operating
with a Cultural Association of Roma in Slovakia ans
MA Andrea Bučková was doing
the workshop about the generic equality and I was meeting up with a women, who
weren´t just Romani, because the domestic violence relate to non-Roma women, too.
So this moved me, because hardly any woman say
what bothers her to whoever friend on the street
and I talk to her about it.
We were talking about such a things and simply, I just couldn´t bear to hear it, my heart was broken.
So, literally, I went mad and I have started to write about it.
The output of the project that was dealing
with a generic equity was making of a postcards of a women, who were a part of it,
and my poems, the very early poems
were displayed at these postcards.
The postcards were the outputs together with my poems, what was presented in Bangkok.
So, this was a success, but I can say that I was kicked to it by Baša.
She kept on saying: Your talk is gifted, try it, don´t be afraid of it.
She was such a starter to me.
And they call me a feminist, because
and it´s not an insult to me, I...
Just a few men know, what or how the woman feels.
And the good thing is, when a man takes the book into his hand and he says to himself
Goodness, I do behave like this or my grandfather acted like this to my mother and this is what it´s all about.
It´s all about this and
when I started to write, I also discovered the fairy-tales,
novels, so again, I have to turn to Zlatka.
And my great teacher was Danielka Šilanová,
as I was also as her pupil.
She was the one, who led us
not only to the journalism, but also to the writing.
And I can say, the great satisfaction for me was, when I was writing
and I didn´t know about it at all, that my article for Romano Nevo Ľil newspaper
They open children´ hearts,
she had sent it to the Syndicate of the journalists
where I obtained the Syndicate of the journalists´s award.
It was the third award, it was in 2002.
And after all this, I said to myself, wow, it is all really worth it.
You have mentioned Romano Nevo Ľil few times, some of our
members really published their very first works in a cooperation with this Romani periodic.
But anyway, the cooperation still exist, every year, when Romano Nevo Ľil
is published, the readers can see the works of the collections of our club.
As well as the other medias contact us
and we try to present our works not only in printed form,
but of course, it´s 21st century, so you can get to read faster something on Facebook,
that is the purpose, to make the people like and comment the works
they see for the very first time and it makes me very happy,
I remember one Romani woman from Orava wrote:
I am so ashamed I don´t know something like this exists in Slovakia.
I felt ashamed in that moment, too, because it was a feedback, as Zlatka suggested, that
the traditions, the Romani values regarding the music, the singing, the dance,
are represented by the professional theatre Romathan, also the newspapers mentioned,
also the Romani language, somehow lives in Slovakia.
And I return to what I´ve said at the beginning, that we are unique, because we have the bloggers, the journalists,
very skillful ones, here in Slovakia, pleasure to watch them,
including Roman Čonka, and all the others, who deal with a journalism,
but what is really missing here in Slovakia, is the work of the writers.
It is sad, that they know much more people abroad, than here in Slovakia.
I have already mentioned Dezider Banga,
who was also in touch with us and he comes
to show to the youth and also to the other people the beauty of our Romani language.
Except I have said that we write and we try to meet with the people,
as I say, when we meet up at our meetings
and I try to inform you that people get to know about us
and also the organizations, institutions, that deal
with some kind of a literature and with a kids, with a Romani youth,
I always announce to you, what a satisfaction it is for our further existence, that the children themselves
choose our works for a competitions like Hviezdoslavov Kubín and
Šaliansky Maťko and others county competitions.
I´ve attended twice the pricing in Bratislava, called
Romano Kher, they made a competition artistic, as well as literary, and it was very satisfying to see
the child reciting the work that was written by us and that´s now very common even at schools.
And I want to get just to the schools.
Approximately two weeks ago, if I remember it well, we´ve attended one meeting in this exact combination and
it is beautiful for me, I don´t know how about you, to see how the kids react to the Romani language
but also the reaction of the pedagogues, as it is.
Sometimes I´ve got a feeling as if they saw the positive model for the first time,
I mean, Romani positive model, how do you feel about it?
Zlatka.
Well, I would say that not every pedagogue is the same.
Because, there really are
the teachers, who, for example, are at our settlement,
where the Romani school is situated, purely Romani,
and the teachers, they literally devote their time to the children.
And when I come for a meeting or something like that
they are not surprised anymore, it´s normal for them.
But when we go somewhere else, into the other school, some of them are surprised,
but, I think, in a good way.
They are surprised, that Romani people are not only dancing and singing,
and I don´t know, something like that, only dances and singing,
but that there is something different, too.
When I start to talk about our group, that there are writers
and I say, what kind of a people we have, the young ones,
that I am, perhaps, the oldest one and the others are the youngsters,
they are surprised.
I meant the same, in a good way about the teachers.
That´s why I asked, because the work with a children is always a bit easier, if you use the literature, the music or the singing.
But the communication with the adults, I feel it the same, every time we go there,
that the interest will awake for the teachers and maybe they will grab one of
our material, that we let there, well, as well as your books and they surely use it.
Miňo, the last time you´ve been with us, you made it easy, because you tried to adapt right to
the class, how old were the kids, 10-9? something like this
and I know, one mister reacted on it, I mean a professor,
that you got stuck in his mind, he wrote it on a social media, that
you really managed to adapt to the kids and to drag
everyone into our theme, we´ve been talking about.
So, tell us, if it´s meaningful, or more precisely,
why do you think it´s a good idea to go to the schools and talk to the kids.
When you say, that I was so witty and so on, it´s because always, when I write,
or whatever I do,
I always try to adapt to the kids.
Because all of us experienced the boring lectures about the writers, when we were kids,
the mentoring and so on.
And at the same time I am glad that we are such a well coordinated team, all of us,
maybe because we know each other so well, our thoughts are linked, and as it wasn´t prepared at all
it´s much more precious, that the kids have reacted.
That we took a teacher and so on, and we made her to shoot the tongue and so on, so we...
Simply, it was beautiful and I already know and I´m sure, the kids, when there will be some competition,
they will simply choose these books, they will look for it, and this is what it´s all about.
This is the goal of our club, actually.
And not only this, Maroško, I would like to add something.
Considering how the teachers react about us,
let´s say the sincere truth, they are Gadjos, said folksy.
But even our Romani people do not know us.
Considering, let´s consider the television, for example, the Romani Day.
That´s awful, because the whole world knows us, just singing,
and even no dance at the end of it.
Well, I am sad, while watching the Romani Day on television
and I feel awkward and maybe I feel ashamed, too
that we know nothing else, but the singing,
and little by little we forget about the dance, as well.
I do thank you for what you´ve said,
because the task of our club is really to show, that the language is alive, in the literary form.
And that´s why I used the possibility
to take part lately, at the conference dedicated to the Romani language, in Kremnica,
Where the private eight-years Romani-English Grammar school is established.
We were talking about the serious problems, in respect of
the utilization of the language in the education, I mean at the schools
and I´ve found the space, intentionally, for showing the participants of the conference, that
the Romani, the Romani language exists in this form.
In respect of what´s written in Strategy 2020,
and I don´t want to dabble in politics, but there is a clear emphasis, an accent, put on the Romani literature.
So that´s why I´ve done it, so not only the debates with a students and teachers,
but the people, who are competent affect and to set the things for the next period
and we really want, I just have to agree, what we are here for and why we exist.
And a satisfaction for me, personally, would be, if after 30 years I would read or see in the television
some famous writer, coming from the kids we meet in the schools today.
It would be very fine, because maybe we had showed him some little light, some motivation.
Ivka, you already have had this kind of space, you have a very good experience with a children and with a youth
because your civic organization worked most of all with a girls.
How do you feel about what we do, going to schools and showing some kind of a edification to the kids.
Well, I can say, Maroško, it is a satisfaction for me, as for the everyone of us, when
we were in Muráň, at the elementary school.
I liked a lot the attitude of the teachers to the pupils, because
as I am a mother, a woman and I write about these things.
I liked how the teacher showed her feelings to the pupil, that she liked him,
the pupil bent to her, cuddled to her and not only the one.
She always caressed the kids, for me, it was
it was so amazing to me.
One more thing was amazing for me, how the Romani children perfectly reacted.
When I´ve requested the little boy to read, I thought he would be ashamed and he was so happy.
Lately, maybe two years ago, I was not so far from here at the elementary school
I was invited to the class, to my daughter´s class.
And they were very surprised, saying: Maria, and your mother is a writer?
And when non-Romani boy starts to read in Romani, that´s amazing.
It was such a bomb, because I have said: You, Samko, pick one you want and try to read it
and he started to read Romani like if he
like if he speaks it all his life.
Basically, absolutely none of the
of the mispronunciation of our words,
but simply, it was so beautiful and it wasn´t just a reading, it was a recitation.
This, this is for me a reason why should we go to the schools,
and just to show that we are here, that we are here for them,
to let the non-Romani children to know our culture, just you have said, Zlatka,
that it´s not only about the dancing, the singing, about the negative things, that our
well, Romani, they drink, they do bad things, they kill, but we are also here, people,
who write and who are bothered with these things
and we just want them to disappear.
But I like it, while walking down the street and he says to me: Auntie,
auntie Cicková, is that you?
I was reading your poem.
That´s it and I look, like where did you get to it...
because my daughter, of course, took all the books to school, I don´t have any at home.
So, that´s the way how we advertise ourselves, but in a positive way.
Sure, all our heading,
few of us, we´ve met for the first time, as I´ve already said, because we knew each other from our working activities.
The truth is, the number of our members is increasing and there are people I didn´t know personally before.
And another pleasant surprise for me is and maybe that´s why we are
in the same formation already seven years and that it wasn´t just a project for project
and we published some book and we pretend to be a writers.
The people who came to us and who spend some time with us, the new members leave with a feelings of coming to the family.
And that´s what it´s all about.
I have to admit, we didn´t have a chance to welcome a non-Roma among us.
I have an ambition, I still do communicate with a people, that it´s not a problem if you´re not Roma,
you don´t have to write Romani or to write about the Roma.
I hope we will get to this stage, too, because
I think, the Roma people in Slovakia don´t have any other option, in this country, also generally,
I can´t substitute my country, we know our history, that we came from India, even this is also doubt,
but what I want to say is, that
we are some prototype of a multicultural living.
And we try to show this in our works,
that we want to live next to each other.
That´s why I´m saying how happy would I be, if some non-Roma people would join us, after some time.
I suppose, it will come with the younger generation, because we do have the younger members,
who feel like a students, college students, it´s very pleasant to talk about it, how people consider them being a writers.
We know, we are not a writers in real, but being fit in this position by the people
and by the public, that´s also some kind of a satisfaction and that we do it, because we like it.
I´ll set up the atmosphere like that, Mr. Balog have sent me a text message saying then and then is a holocaust, you have three days, make a poem.
So, Cicková picked up the hoover
and Cicková wrote a poem and I´ll tell you just a sequence, because
well, the holocaust touches us all, because the members of our families also experienced
killing their parents or great-parents in front of their eyes, and that´s a very hard theme.
So, just a sequence, a little bit, the beginning of it.
We all are standing here, by the eternal flame and we remind of those, who had been killed in the war.
It is a reminiscence, a memory on that we should really come to the eternal fire, which is burning on
the Slovak National Uprising monument in Banská Bystrica, so everyone should really
think of how many of our Romani people had to sacrifice their lives,
so we can live our lives now and
it touches me a lot, because it is not taught in schools.
I confess, that your motivation about this is, because your dad, well, pardon, your father-in-law experienced it
and that was such a motivation.
As well as in your works, Zlatka, it is really very precious material
for the next generation, because
I do remember myself, when my granddad was talking about these things to me, but unfortunately I didn´t record his words.
And you write about it, it means really it´s very important, such a memento, a raised finger,
even in a relations to what these days is going on, what is the situation in Slovakia and that
the right-wing politics go in a very unfortunate way.
So we are, maybe, some kind of a feedback of
or some kind of a thin wall, saying Watch out!, so these things wouldn´t happen.
We try to include this into our works.
I am probably a little bit different and I wrote a work Nowadays´ Holocaust, if you remember.
And I tried to say, that the genocide, which used to be here, is still happening every single day, after the revolution.
But in a different way.
They don´t place us to the walls, but they place us behind the wall
and that´s even more dangerous.
So that´s what I was trying to put into my works, but it´s exactly that
we are different generations, different types, not everyone is...no one has the same DNA,
so we perceive the holocaust differently and that´s why it is valuable, because we really manage
to link up the old and the new perception of the things.
So,
maybe it would be interesting to make any other passage, any other work someday, dedicated only to this theme
and maybe to present only a Romani holocaust at the school´s debates.
I´ve seen many times, when you read these things, the kids are quiet, listening with their breath away.
So maybe that´s one of the possible routing of our club.
After the holocaust, when Mrs. Herová have come,
it was so touching.
I´ll explain this, the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government for Romani communities organizes various pious acts
all around Slovakia, I guess four villages have been chosen lately, Čierny Balog and so.
And during the memorial act, our poems also have been read.
And it was Mrs. Herová, who was reading your poem.
But before I was reading it in Banská Bystrica, where it made her cry.
And it was not only her, but more people had the tears in their eyes and
and she came to me and it made me very happy, because
I couldn´t go to Čierny Balog, where you´ve been performing
and she said it would be an honour for her to read my poem there.
So.
Well, I would like to say one more thing.
And maybe I would be sorry, if I didn´t say that.
Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that this new era,
what really have shocked me,
or astounded me,
that this new era brings
over and over again
something anti-Romani and that hurts me.
You know, maybe it was
normal it the past times.
But after the war it was changing somehow,
even though it wasn´t utterly clear.
But we felt, we were getting up to the level, a little bit.
But at this stage,
even if someone says about the well-educated Roma, But at this stage,
even if someone says about the well-educated Roma,
or about the high level Romani family,
that he or she has never felt,
that I am Roma, I have never experienced that.
But this era,
even the well-educated and highly intelligent people
put aside somewhere and it feels
I´m not saying that every one feels it, but is happens
more often as it used to be before.
Because the democracy brings us the parties, which
literally give an opportunity for demonstration
of what the man feels.
And that´s the mistake.
We certainly are in some sort of a political level, but that´s absolutely logical and normal, the fact we are sitting here, even that is the politics.
Because four Romani people, sitting and talking about the Romanipen, that´s...
I didn´t mean anything bad.
But that´s exactly about the life, and it always brings me back to what was said,
everyone of us writes just about his own feelings, what we like or otherwise, what we don´t like at all.
And we try to add it to our works.
And pretending of not knowing what´s happening here and not putting it to our writing, that would be very, I can´t even say what...
Maybe we would focus more on the children and the adolescents,
what we´ve been committed to do by the Office of the Government, which supported us financially also this year.
For me, it was a little bit
a little bit too
I don´t want to say directive, but on the other hand I understand them,
because they have a feedback from the schools and the community centres, that
they don´t have enough of the materials for teaching the language.
We know about it, that the language isn´t just for reading some stuff in Romani language,
but also for making the child understand the Slovak language via Romani translation
and to deal with a school tasks better, our club tends to be helpful in this issue.
Maybe I´ll reveal, what I wanted to tell you during our first meeting, that our next project will be situated a little bit differently
Inasmuch,
we talk about how many skillful children we meet and I have no doubts about this at all,
that there is a lot of a potential in more than 1200 Romani settlements, to obtain the Pulitzer Prize, for example.
But we don´t know them, because we have no conditions and possibilities for that,
so we´ll set the project the way, that every writer will have
one child from the Romani settlement in the position of his tutor, mentor.
When we´ll find the one, who is skillful for writing and creating something, we´ll train him as our next younger generation,
to show everyone, that even it´s a child from the socially disadvantaged environment, he deserves a chance,
the one, we all had got, as well.
- And simply to set up the focus and maybe it will change something. - And well...
In my third book, that was published,
I was putting there the boy,
attending ninth class, Janko Milo
and I put two of his tales into my book.
Just because it is a boy, who is very talented
and I liked the way he writes.
Even, he is a modern, he is a young man, I admitted it
and I got it, that´s a normal thing, but I wanted
him to be in the book, to show, yes,
there are young people, who can write beautifully.
And that´s why two of his tales are in my book and I put him on the first page.
I would like to add, that
relating to what Mrs. Rusová and also Maroš have said,
I would like to share my personal experience, how I was surprised, when I was working at the community centre in Hrochoť,
and we´ve made the so-called literal word workshop or the creating, creative writing.
And first of all, the teenagers were having fun and making jokes,
but I was really surprised,
how they see this world, and they see it thought the music, of course.
But it was an picturesque experience.
And in respect of this, I will only marginally return to the Romani language.
My son has an autism, but he understands more in Romani than in Slovak language.
The psychologist have told us, that our language is extraordinary, it is
colourful, echoic and sound-balanced and that it´s different from all the others languages.
So, she admired our language and even
she wanted me to teach her few words, right,
she needed to send a text message.
So I called my brother immediately and he translated it, because
he was among the 15 people who were invited to the Charles University, when the language was codified,
and he was there, too, so really...
I´m happy for that, but what I´m sorry about is that non-Roma people realize more how our language is exceptional
than Roma themselves.
I want to link up what Maroš have said, about doing a mentors
to our future writers, the ones, who will be well-educated for writing.
Well, we´ll make that route easier for them.
It would be really great, to make it easier for them and
we should go more among our children, I suppose,
well...
Now the situation is, that they are ashamed of
being Roma, and so
we are so attacked and the media point on us, so
let´s help them with it.
Let´s show them the road, that we are here for them, we didn´t have anybody.
We just stuck together and we still work together.
But we could help, children, here you go,
like on the plate and you can work. - Exactly.
And that´s exactly what we are talking about, what our club wants to do and where does it head.
Maybe we should show off that
our works are not only being reciting on the competitions, but actually, we got to the point where
we use our own potential for making, for example, a theatre performance.
We have already dramatized several pieces of our poetry.
Lately there was one by Mrs. Evka Plešková, form Banská Bystrica,
a very enjoyable comedy, called: I want another man.
And the beautiful thing about it is, that we, who belong to the club,
our parents, from the Senior Romani Theatre in Bystrica for example, they are the main characters,
like as your dad, your mum and another people,
who, really, play that play and that is the added value.
Simply, how the generational look is, well, my daughter wrote it and I play in it.
So, it is very pleasant and also a feedback, because the senior Romani theatre doesn´t exist in Slovakia.
And two years ago we started and
that´s why I´m talking about it, because we afforded it, as well as we publish the book,
we translate it to Romani language, Pauline, another of our members, who is not here,
she makes an illustrations.
Another one of our writing members, very clever guy,
he is in charge of a technical issues, the web page, the publicity,
also the typesetting of a book, and people, who know something about it know, it´s not easy at all.
I just want to say we are self-reliant and that´s why we do thing the way we do already seven years.
As we mentioned we are already in the theatre as well,
well, they got somehow to our works, but I also got an idea and you can say what you think about it,
if some of our poems were set to music, if it would become a great hit?
And there are a skillful musicians, who would be able to make a miracle out of these words.
I personally, and everyone of us, we love Romani music.
I´ve been in Romathan Theatre for four years, so I really do tend to these things, but
what now is producing in Romani music, also in the popular, the jazz, pop,
sometimes I get my ears blocked, or whatever else, because
back to our Romani language...
It is hard to make a poetry in Romani language, because it must rhyme, it must have some metaphors,
and even harder it is, if you have to connect it with a music, as we talk about the songs.
What is your opinion about the music and music creations, regarding to the Romani music?
Please, Zlatka, what do you thing about it?
It might be hard for you, because it´s all about the rap, pop, but you surely have a grandchildren...
Well, regarding the rap and the modern music, hip-hop and I don´t know what else,
I won´t speak about it, because my age is just too high for that
and I don´t want to criticize what I don´t know.
But I would speak about our Roma people,
who make the songs,
in the old Romani style, I mean.
And sometimes I absolutely get shock,
when I hear the lyrics.
By reason of making it rhyme,
they put there whatever word, even if it has no sense.
And I understand if they use idioms like
my old mother, or sick mother,
or the diseases and I don´t know what.
I really do understand, because Roma people they have a very hard life.
They have a problems and it´s not the past, it´s also the present.
But anyway, if I start with something like this,
it should be good, it should be correct,
and it should make sense.
That´s all from me.
Miňo?
If I can say my opinion, I will try to use, to be mild...
The composers or the performers, artists, they do not realize,
and now I will follow what Zlatka have said, that if the want their lyrics to rhyme, every text should have
so-called metrical foot.
Another thing is, even the music is nice,
but if the lyrics is nailed, as one of my friends advised, as a macaroni,
as some pasta, twisted, it simply doesn´t sounds good and the third thing is, and the artists forget about it is,
that as we are trying to be some kind of an example,
they are also an idols, examples for the kids.
Because the music gets easier to the ears, to the consciousness as the written words, for example.
And that´s why we, at least I personally, but surely my colleagues too, why we wouldn´t hesitate to cooperate, if some
of the artists asked for help with a lyrics, the consultations and so on.
We don´t proclaim we are some professionals, but we certainly do have more knowledge,
about the written words, about the lyrics, as they have.
It is disgust, though, it is...
The music can be super,
and for example I have a program
that allows me to cut the lyrics off and to listen only the music,
but that also testifies about the progress of our culture.
It means, that our culture, according to the singing
and the dancing, as you have declared, Zlatka,
well, it is as if it was disappearing.
I just like the performers like, the Phuri Giľa and so on, that´s beautiful.
The phrase that I can´t speak Romani very well, I understand,
but if I can´t something,
I´ll call, I´ll ask and so on, but these lyrics tat are produced,
even no-Roma can already understand them.
I danced actively in the dance group Ternipen Banská Bystrica, since 1985 until 2008.
And I didn´t sing, but I dearly like to listen to the music, but
I have to admit, I don´t speak Romani very good and I feel ashamed for that,
so, for example the lyrics
of our musicians, Romani, it gets to my ears, but if I say to people,
or when I sing in front of Maroš, he looks at me like what you´ve just said?
And basically even the meaning of the word isn´t as it should be
and I absolutely don´t consider myself as a writer, I write just because I like it and I want to do it,
but we have such a writer as Dezider Banga, for example,
why don´t they ask him for an advise?
Or with the other educated people, who speak and understand the language.
I don´t understand it.
I don´t understand and
it would be very good, let´s say this one thing, if for example Rytmus
who is literally adored by the young people,
because he makes good music, he makes modern music,
but he also should do, because he doesn´t hide that he´s half Romani and I like it,
because he could hide it.
He never hides it and it would be good, if, for example he did something like that, something in the Romani language.
But in the normal Romani language, not in the distortion one.
For me, this is kind of...and I think, I am proud of our musicians, singers,
this is also about our culture,
but they should consult a little bit more with these people, so they won´t make a real crap,
which is understood by no-Roma people as well.
Just as you said, lately we have attended the conference, and I liked a lot, when
the teacher, M.A. Tekeliová, said at the end of the conference:
Do not dispraise my nation, please, do not dispraise my nation in this, by distortion of our Romani language.
That´s why I asked you about this issue, as regards the music, because
we already got, maybe, some offer for cooperation with somebody.
But I´ve got a great respect, well, the problem is, that
the music lives on its own.
In every small village, in every single settlement, the one, who can play the guitar or who has the drum, simply is the musician.
And that´s good, because that´s life,
but otherwise, we don´t have any institute for controlling this things.
I am going to use an example from Czech Republic, where Gulo Čar worked
with another prominent Czech bands and they made beautiful video-clips, so that´s an example of how to deal with the language.
But here, in Slovakia also Vlado Sendrej do something, I saw few of the rap bands, who asked him to cooperate.
I like it a lot, if the Romani language appears there.
Regarding Rytmus, his lyrics are surely about what´s in now.
I don´t prefer his texts, the curses and stuff, but what I like about it all is the fact, that he changes the Roma people, whether he wants it or not.
The non-Roma people started to use the vocabulary typical for Roma people,
and that has got an educational dimension and he even...the fella nails it and he even doesn´t realize it.
So, if someone really contacts us with this matter, no problem, I just say it´s a little bit more difficult to set it to the music.
But I also hope and I believe, that the typical folklore, what is for example Marisha from Detva doing, the Romani one, it must be kept.
But the truth is, it is a 21st century
and you can´t force the kids to listen to halgato, they dislike it as opera and so on,
well, the music really testifies about what life brings and what´s necessary, so
that was my remark.
And at the end, maybe we should
I ask you, Zlatka, to read something from your works and
also the colleagues though.
Well, first of all, I would like
to say what is it all about.
It is about the Romani king, how we had to run away
from our homeland and
his daughter run away, too
and she loved her nation so much,
that she separated herself from her nation,
because she couldn´t bear their suffering
and their misery on the way,
after they got to the whole world.
She is dying and speaking out:
What is going to happen to me? I can´t move further with my Romani people.
I´m dying of hunger. It is very bad.
The little moon couldn´t have looked more
on her suffering and difficulties.
She said: "I´ve got on my heart, that
I won´t see my Romani people anymore. Watch over them,
hear me."
She speaks to the moon.
The moon looked at her sadly down from the skies.
"You sacrifices yourself for your people,
you are dying for them.
I´ll help you, if you want.
I´ll take you to me, up to the skies,
and you will shine on your Romani people, as a star.
And you will know everything, what will happen to them.
Do you want it?" "I do!"
The king´s daughter agreed with
everything that the moon had said.
And so it happened.
The moon took her
to him, to the sky, where she glows, she shines
up to this day, on us, Romani people and she watches us, how we live.
Maybe that´s why Romani people love the sky
full of stars, they love the moon.
This star doesn´t have a name.
But more likely it had one.
But people who lived in that times, they didn´t talk about her,
as well as they didn´t speak about the
Romani king and so they forgot about the girl, too.
Maybe it happened because the Romani people have stayed
in our world.
Thank you for reading in Romani language,
the old Romani tale. We talk about the "irinas", meaning to write a book,
somebody may use more Slovak-like word "pisinas".
The original Romani word is "lekhaviben".
I wish, our Romani writing, nascent in our club
will fulfill its target, which we´ve been talking about.
I wish we all may be happy and healthy,
so we could do it, it´s not a job,
it is our Romani life.
Romani writer, Romani poet
wants to show in his works, what the old Romani life looked like,
what´s happening in the present,
and what we would like to achieve for Romani people in the future.
- Thank you very much, my friends. - Amen to that.
Stop. OK.