As we met Danish and South African member of the jury, it’s time to meet a Spanish member, Dani ORVIZ!

DANI ORVIZ

Dani Orviz (Asturias, Spain, 1976). Poet, video artist, actor and performer, has developed in recent years an extensive career focused mostly on performing live poetry through all kinds of formats: Poetry Slam, dramas, street interventions, etc.. In 2102 was proclaimed European Poetry Slam champion after also achieving the victory in the National Championship of Spain. Subsequently, in 2013, won the bronze medal in the World Cup of Poetry Slam held in Paris. He has published the books of poetry „La del medio de las Ketchup“ (2014), „Muere sonriendo“ (2012) and „Mecánica Planetaria“ (2010), based in which he has created an ambitious multimedia spectacle currently represented in national and international stages. He has carried his poetry to many European poetry festivals, like Sziget (Hungary), Voix Vives (France), Weiter Sagen (Germany), Hit the Ode (UK), Runo Viikko (Finland), Crazy Tartu (Estonia) and many more.

About himself: Funny Bald Human!

How can you describe yourself in a three words?
– Funny Bald Human.
Looking right now, how good is a life in a Spain? Do you like it?
– Nowadays life in Spain is not so good as it used to be, but I guess is still quite good. And yes, I still like it.
How is looking one day with Dani?
– Not very spectacular, really. I don´t consider myself a boring person, but I like to spend my time doing intellectual things that, although I find them fascinating, are not very interesting to watch…

 Do you enjoy in your profession (poet)?
– More than anything in the world.

Just about poetry: Also in Spain, we are all writting poems!

What can you say when we talk about poets and their poetry in Spain?
– In Spain we´re now experimenting a poetic boom, where people are having more interest on it than ever, and where a lot of poetry is being created. So, you can find lots of poetry, and not all of it is good… But, in comparison with other countries, I think Spanish poets have at least a lot of respect and knowledge of the poetic tradition of the country, so you can always find interesting things.
When you started to write a poetry?
– When I was a little child, if I look back in time, I see I always had the need for writing and creating.

How much you know of Balkan poetry?
– Not very much, but I know Balkan people are supposed to be charismatic, vehement and a little bit crazy, so I´m sure the poetry written by them must be worth reading and listening.
Is a bronze of World Cup Poetry Slam in Paris your the biggest poetry success? Tell something about that event…
– Not really. Having the bronze was a big joy, but what I consider my true poetic success is the fact of, in a pragmatic world like the one we live in, have been able to make a living on poetry. About the event, it was very good as an opportunity to meet and spend time with all the fantastic poets that were participating. They were really incredible.
Is important a place and time when you are writing a poems?
– It has importance, but if it is necessary, I´m able to write anywhere at any moment…

About juring in a Mili Dueli (Sweet Duels): I don’t like vulgarity and mediocrity in poems!

What needs to have a good poetry for you?
– Beauty, magic, humor, lirism, energy… but mostly sincerity.

 You will appear in a final and you will have a lot of points to give it for the best poem. Which form of poems you

– The poems that possess that something special no one can describe but it is the secret of poetry.

What can you advice for our authors? They would love to know something about you…
– Be sincere with your inner selves and don´t try to be in your poems somebody that you are not. And be always in contact with the poetry other people are doing: Read it! Listen to it! Feel it!
Do you like more a small or big poems or you don’t care about that if the theme is interesting?
– I don´t care. As they say, size doesn´t matter if the experience is good!
What you don’t like to see in a poems?
– Vulgarity, mediocrity, over-used constructions, stupidity and childish thoughts trying to pass as ultra-deep meanings.

Fast ask – fast answers: I hate Real Madrid!

1. Your favorite book?100 years of solitude, by Gabriel Gracía Márquez.
2. Your favorite singer? Elvis Costello.
3. Your favorite meal? Pork ribs.
4. Your favorite city? Many ones: L´Hospitalet, where I live now. Then – Porto, in Portugal. Berlin, Antwerp, Granada…
5. Your favorite poet/writter? Allen Ginsberg.
6. Your favorite season of the year? Summer.
7. The craziest thing you ever done? I don´t remember. I was too drunk.
8. The best place in Spain? First, Asturias, in the North. Second, Andalucía, in the South.
9. Best country for life in your opinion? The imaginary country of Utopia.
10. Real Madrid or FC Barcelona? I hate Real Madrid, so it must be Barcelona…
11. Your favorite football club? I don´t like football very much, but if I need to choose, Sporting of Gijón and Barcelona.