ISIDRO ITURAT, AN ALCHEMIST OF POETRY. BY FERNANDO FERNANDEZ-GIL. LOS ARGONAUTAS.NET. SPAIN. 2009.

 

          Isidro Iturat was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain, 1973, and he lives in São Paulo, Brazil, since 2005. Isidro Iturat is known in the literary environment as the creator of “indriso” (A new type of poetic rhyme) and works also as a Spanish and literature teacher.

          This interest have taken us to interview him, as we sit back with curiosity expecting him to unveil the mystery of this new poetic rhyme “indriso”, and about its origin, creation and evolution.

 

 

          - Dear Isidro, first of all: What is “indriso”?

          “Indriso” is a poetic form that I devised in 2001. It consists of two terzains, and two one-line stanzas (3-3-1-1), with free use of the rhyme and the number of syllables in its verses.

 

          - How did you come about this new technic? What led you to its creation?

          The poetic techic is basically a re-arrangement of the classic sonnet: a scenario where the quatrains in the sonnet turns into terzains in the “indriso”, leading to the two terzains of the sonnet becoming a one-line stanzas. However, its creation was not an operation of calculation or reasoning, there was not a conscious search of a new technic either, it was actually an act of imagination. When it occurred, I was simply meditating on the form of the sonnet that I was seeing in my mind, suddenly the image of the verses merging in smaller groups appeared.

 

          - What led you to call this new poetic figure with such a suggestive name?

          Well, I spent more than two years trying to figure out the suitable name for the new poetic technic. During this time, I was inspired by an aggressive search through philosophical terminologies, language dictionaries, music and literature dictionaries, etc., I wrote on several rough papers but it was useless, because the suitable word did not appear nor match.
 
          However, the solution came from a three-year-old girl, who tried pronouncing my name Isidro on her first Spanish tests, but pronounced it the other way “indriso”. For a long time I did not even contemplate the possibility of naming the technic after this, but gradually the name became more familiar and was naturally adopted by me. From that moment, I started to show it around the literary environment that I frequented in Madrid (poets social gatherings, writers associations, etc.) because I wanted to see how people would react to it, and I was blown away by the positive reaction and supports its received. As a result, the name was born. Indriso! 

 

          - Exploration and experimentation throughout the last years have given rise to new technics derived from the original “indriso”. Please, tell us about the different “indriso” variants or forms.

          Since then I have come across variants and types like 3-3-2, 3-3-3-1-1, 4-4-1-1, etc., from different authors but with the original name “indrisos” with different order, arrangement and intention. However, I do not consider them suitable enough to be called “indrisos” because it arose and took root from 3-3-1-1 pattern, they have moved away too far from the original pattern, in the rhythmical level, visual and archetypical level. In this case, what would prevent us from assuming structures like 5-5-1-1, 10-10-1-1, 3-3-2-2, etc. to be “indrisos” as well? We would arrive in a meaningless unlimitation of definition. Although we can consider cases from a random experiments, for example, experiments such as “indriso” with “estrambote” (verses considered as extra lines) or the use of divided verses (they can be interpreted like a single verse), that even I have tested. “Indriso” is not a caos. It has a definition.

          Nevertheless, I received a suggestion last year persuading me to have a different consideration and opinion about this new variant and types. Teresa Marcialetti, an Uruguayan writer, has investigated all the possibilities of combinations of 3 and the 1 duplicated. With her permission, I have also studied this subject to arrive at an idea that, unlike the other mentioned forms, we can perceive close affinity between 3-3-1-1 and those other variants that I will show you now. Paying attention to this forms in which terzains and one-line stanzas can be related, it seems suitable to propose a new terminology based on the concepts of systole and diastole, understanding the passage of 3 towards 1 like a movement of contraction of the speech and passage of 1 towards 3 like an expansion movement:

          3-3-1-1: “indriso” or “indriso” in systole.
          1-1-3-3: “indriso” in diastole.
          3-1-3-1: “indriso” of a two systoles.
          1-3-1-3: “indriso” of a two diastoles.
          3-1-1-3: “indriso” in an internal systole.
          1-3-3-1: “indriso” in an internal diastole.

          Finally, I want to clarify that I do not consider the forms that I have mentioned in the beginning meaningless and valueless (I think people would obtain enormous benefits from them if they would persist on the development of these figures), but I think it is necessary to find other denominations to refer them as. Not “indriso”.

 

          - In the website you directed us to, www.indrisos.com, the reader can enjoy a part of your work, and the first collection of your poems completely written with “indrisos”, El Manantial y otros poemas, has already appeared. Likewise, as we can also see in your website, a great number of writers have decided to use this poetic figure for their creations. What reception and repercussion has “indriso” had between the readers and writers?

          I can start by responding to the remarks directed at me from different sections of people from different opinion, I am receiving all the possible reactions that would be expect from them in a case like this: discreet critics, crude critics, moderate praises, effusive praises, remarks of doubts about the technic and remarks in which they try to teach me about it as well. In my opinion, this is normal and it is suitable for a new invention offered to the world poetic community. I consider it to be very healthy for “indriso” to receive as much praises as punches as it can receive, because the praises encourages us to continue working harder and the critics shows what we have to improve on. If “indriso” passes through the test of the poetic forge, its because it was created to be, but if it doesn’t then it must die.

          There are some authors outside my website stimulating the life, growth, expansion, circulation, survival and triumph of indriso. I am positive! This people publish poems, articles and organize communities in several languages around the world to this effect.

          Personally, I welcome these developments very pleased, grateful and encouraged.

 

          - What has this adventure of poetic creation and experimentation brought to your personal scope?

          Look, It is true that cultivating this technic has exposed me to diverse experiences and knowledge, a bit of ontological and a bit of transcendental, but beyond this, it allows me to enjoy myself, find fun and satisfaction in my work daily.

 

          - What made you enter the Literature world, and when did you realize you liked to write?

          The first time I wrote something with the consciousness of wanting to do Literature was when I was 18, in high school, but it was a simple class exercise. The teacher requested two descriptions of an olive tree, an objective and a subjective one. In the subjective one, I began to add poetic images intuitively and I loved it. I got excited about the idea of continuing playing with that and wrote other texts that were poetic proses; later, the first poem came; and after a time of writing verses and prose, I decided to dedicate all my energy to writing verses because I realized that I was responding educationaly better doing this. From then on, I was already feeling that dedicating myself to the writing of those short lines were becoming a vital imperative. I felt really happy doing them, and it has continued till date.

          However, those were the beginnings of my “manifested love” and relevance towards Literature, I would like also to talk about an image that I have carried in my mind since I was a boy, and which could possibly be its foundation, bedrock and necessary motivation for all of this. It is the memory of some nights in which my mother read aloud texts from Federico García Lorca’s Gypsy Ballads at home.

 

          - What do you think is more necessary for the creation of literature, the inspiration or the perspiration?

          Of these two friends, I prefer ménage à trois.

 

          - Please, choose a work, a single one of those you have read in your life, and tell us why you chose it.

          In 2005, I moved from Spain to Brazil and I put only one work of Literature in my suitcase, it was a poetic anthology of the XVII C. Spanish poet don Luis de Góngora. I didn’t know what chances I would have to obtain books in Spanish in Brazil, so this circumstance offered me the exercise of choosing one, from all my books, one that I considered more essential to preserve the affinity and culture of poetry in my mother tongue, the one that will give me all this with less space to occupy. I felt Góngora’s work as a serum, as the most valuable and concentrated poetry reserve. Its very important to be handy. I will prioritized it any day any time!