Seadeta Osmani - Poet, Translator, Creative writer, Dancer Living and working in Zagreb, Croatia, writing poetry in both Croatian and English. One book of poetry self-published. Individual poems published in several collections of poetry in Croatia. In 2018, included in the top 40 poets of the Balkans region, within the Mili Dueli poetry contest based in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Poetry included in the poetry reading project “Rijeci iznad svega”(Words Above All) in Zadar, Croatia and published in the respective poetry collection. Recently a part of the team of writers for the Cultura Colectiva media company. Poetry published by Ariel Chart. Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/s.o.poetrypoezija/
Was your creativity affected in anyway during the lockdown? Did being lockdown make you feel inspired or deflated? --
I was really saddened during the first week of lockdown, and then I had to pull myself out of it, as there were people who needed me, and by helping them, my creativity awoke.
Was it therapeutic doing creative work during lockdown? --Yes, yes!
How did you occupy your time?
--Talking to the people I loved, who felt down; writing; reading inspirational articles; dancing. What was the main thinking behind your poem submitted to Together Behind Four Walls ? --I found it interesting how we felt forced to stay at home, without much of outer activities and how obvious the need for inner work became, but how we tried to avoid it at all costs; facing our inner face became tougher than facing the same old everyday routine. There are many closed doors inside each of us, many jails we keep parts of ourselves in, while telling ourselves we lived in a free world.
What inspires most of your poems? --Life. People. Love.
Do you remember the first poem you ever wrote or one of the first? --I was 10, and the poem was entitled “Life”.
Do you hand write poems or go directly on to your computer? --Handwriting still.
Do you ever give up on poems you have started? --Not exactly give up. Sometimes a thought, a verse, an image... gets left on the paper to wait for better times. Usually I finish them all.
Do you do any other creative activities? --Oriental dance, I have my own small dance studio, and apart from writing, dancing helped during lockdown, too.
Do your poems ever have strong messages? --Ouch... that’s for the readers to say, I guess.
If you had to write a poem about yourself, how would it start? --- On its way to reach the ocean, this grain of sand somehow got lost in the wind...