Catherine Ann Lombard
She started reading and writing poetry when she was three-years-old, and by seven had a thick notebook full of poems. Novelist, short-story writer, poet and scientist, Nahidi Azar has worked in the Optical Science Group at the UT since 2008 and lives in Enschede with her husband and 3-year-old son Araz.
What was it like to win the Pubic Prize?
‘I was very surprised. I believe a poem finishes when it enters another person’s heart. The real prize for me was when my poem crossed all borders, even though I read it in Persian. When I heard my name as the winner, I was flying in the sky.’
Tell us about the scarf you presented Rector Brinksma that night.
‘It was quite a spontaneous gift. When I was asked beforehand to read my poem in Persian, I felt that I needed this scarf. On the scarf is a poem by Attar, Rumi’s teacher. I brought this scarf to help me remember that I wasn’t just reading my poem for me, but I was there to represent a long line of Persian poets, as well as my people.’
‘That evening, when the Rector mentioned the Persian poets Khayyam and Rumi, I was very surprised. I didn’t think anyone would know these poets. So when I won the Public Prize, I wanted to acknowledge my thankfulness and happiness and right then decided to give this scarf to him as a representative of the jury and audience. I would have liked to have had one hundred scarves that night for everyone who was there!’
How do you write your poetry?
‘Writing poetry is like the flow of a river. It must find its way. Poetry is given from the universe. Something comes to me and I cannot rest until I express it. When I write a poem, I then leave it. After an hour, I read it again. If the poem impresses me, if I find myself wondering, “Did I write this myself?” then I know it is a poem.’
Tell us about your poem ‘Goodbye’.
‘That is a poem I wrote about my mother who died of cancer four years ago while I was living in Stockholm. This is the subject of my novel Untold. I did not have a chance to say goodbye to her. And it is also for my son. I love him so much and when I have to leave him, it is so difficult. I see it in his eyes sometimes.’
What inspires you?
‘Since I can remember, I can feel the clouds in the sky. The grass, leaves, birds. I can hug them. All these universal elements are invited into my poetry as words. I feel and I write.’
‘Artists are like antennas in this world. They receive their inspiration from the universe. I wish to help others with my poetry. I have a capacity and, therefore, a responsibility to express my feelings of pain, suffering, fear, and joy for others who cannot express these feelings.’
Who is your favorite Persian poet?
‘I love the poet Rumi. You can dance with his poems. They lift you up!’
How is it to be Iranian in the West?
‘I like being in the Netherlands. It’s peaceful here. I like the free wind that blows here in the Netherlands. The Dutch can freely judge people as human beings. This impressed me the night they selected me for the Public Prize. I really believed they would pick a Dutch poet. But they were able to think beyond nationality and even beyond language.’
‘Like I told the audience, “A poem is like a horse and the poet is like the rider. Open you heart and let the rider in.” The audience did just that, and I will never forget it.’ (Photo: Gijs van Ouwerkerk)
