Prague has a new official poet. ‘Poetry is not Cinderella, it can react quickly to a crisis,’ claims Borkovec | iRADIO
Since 2018, Prague has been one of the world’s capitals that has its own urban poet. After Vít Janot, Petr Borkovec will now be his successor for one year. “I think poetry is quite vital. When she’s always written about as Cinderella, that’s a cliché that everyone takes on. There’s no need to do that.”
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The position of Prague poet is “considered as a way to make poetry visible in the everyday life of the city’s citizens and to create artistic heritage through public readings and projects to promote poetry awareness,” Borkovec cites in the description of his new position.
“It depends on who takes it,” says Borkovec. He replaced Vít Janota (2021-2022) and Sylva Fischerová (2019-2020), the first official Prague poetess, as city poet.
As an urban poet, he plans to show how poetry is unique. “Not even prose can replace it. “Poetry is perhaps the quickest to respond to all the crises and impending dooms that are falling upon us now,” outlines the poet.
Borkovec already organizes author’s readings around Prague, so he wants to approach the function differently.
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“I would like to connect with the younger generation of poets born around 2000. It seems to me that they know how to hold their own and at the same time react quickly to what is happening around them. And at the same time not to write journalistic poetry,” plans Borkovec and adds:
He also sees inspiration in how one of the poets of Brussels conceived his role. “They turned it into a year-long project where selected authors focused on homeless people, lived with them, and then wrote about it. At the end of the year, the whole thing was presented in a shiny guise. I’d like to do something like that.’
From Černošice to Prague
One of his poems about Prague has already been published in the anthology Kádí ji zna tak be maskuvané, which contains 66 poems about Prague by Czech authors.
“Mine is a poem about plastic by the track that resembles a woman’s body. It’s all about the journey from Černošice to Prague, and actually in that poem we’re not in Prague at all,” admits the poet and adds:
“The road is beautiful, when I don’t have to be in Prague at 8:40. I like all the delays. The route consists of a rural section and then a suburban section. When the train is late, I hear a lot of different conversations that I wouldn’t otherwise hear because everyone is commenting on everything out loud. And the narrator will tell me a very personal message. It’s nice.”
Rotting tomatoes and pruning bushes
Most recently, Borkovec’s book Observing Exercises was published, which he published in only a few dozen copies.
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“I have never published a book like this before. The publisher Jaroslav Tvrdoň talked to me about the mindfulness exercises I do with my students. For example, we take a taxi around the city for two hours, always one route, and then the students write together what they saw. It didn’t turn out so expensive,” adds the poet.
“Or we observe rotting tomatoes. Or I do walks with assignments, or we trim the bush and we read about the bird’s nest in the bush.’
As the official poet of Prague, Borkovec can access the National Theater building throughout the year. “When the theater is open, I can climb all the way up to the golden crib. And to be there as long as I want,” he is pleased.
“But I don’t have the key for it, I’ll always have to ask for it. But I think it will be an extraordinary experience to be there,” adds the poet from Prague.
Listen to the full interview, the audio is above the article.
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