Today we talk about Music From the Forest, a book by Fred Van Oystaeyen published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Fred Van Oystaeyen to get to know him better, what was the moment that prompted him to the writing of his book of poetry Music From the Forest, as well as the poets he takes inspiration from.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What prompted you to the writing of your book of poetry?
As a mathematician I worked in the safe world of certainty, dominated by Logic and Proof. But I could not apply that system to reality and was always interested in the deeper emotional reality related to the subconscious. Expression of these deeper parts of the ego is best done in some kind of dream language where the linguistic logic is present but the links between natural subjects are different – somewhat less coherent – but often with spiritual content. I view poetic language as a more spiritual deformation of the usual and so one can touch deeper hidden meanings using the same words but with meanings loaded with extra dream-meaning and so connect people in another world.
- What are the crucial themes of your work?
Crucial themes are, loneliness, people losing themselves in decaying memories and dementia, natural landscapes of beauty representing some evolution of the abstract cognitive interpretations in either contrast or symbiosis with nature, the creative power of storms even in destruction, the deeper links in society and how these define life in a group. The suffering of people is often central in some poem, but I always find some optimistic point in solidarity, togetherness and love. I view life from my space-time model (I published about scientifically) of processes in the void leading to existing things which leads to new philosophical insights which through poetic licence translate to some unexpected twists of observations of reality and so the meaning may be different from the expected contents.
- What is the message you wanted to send out to you readers?
There are several possible messages. There are no certainties so you better doubt everything you think, or others communicate, there is no absolute truth but only statements accepted as being true in comparison to statements earlier already accepted as being true. Society is really an organic society where the links between members are most important and are always changing; causality in observed reality is not the organic causality in reality, the latter is not even a partial order relation, so we have to be careful applying our logical analysis to real phenomena! Perhaps one cannot love everyone, but togetherness is a more generic feeling and solidarity brings people together. Organisms grow but need a shrinking strategy, like trees shedding leaves in winter, it is impossible to grow always, death is like programmed cell death on the organism level, and Life “eats” death. We shall overcome and the unconscientious may survive.
- Who are the poets you take inspiration from?
I was influenced by writers like Franz Kafka, Ben Traven and E.A. Poe. I read some classical poetry but never was a follower of one poet in particular because I tried to find expression for my own ideas since I was a teenager. I was rather contemplative as a youngster reading mostly philosophers but always with a critical eye finding disagreements with each theory I read. It was not a feeling of elitism but more a failure to fit the philosophical theories in my mathematical mould built on proofs and evidence. Poetry, as opposed to philosophy, avoided all forms of indoctrination and is born out of freedom in the process of giving meaning to usual language. Yet this freedom is by definition personal, completely depending on the author’s personal points of view on life and humanity. So, I always inserted my own interpretation as footnotes to the things I read what limited my inclination to follow others.
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
II just submitted a new book, “Journey to the Source of Consciousness.” for publication with Europe books; the contract is at this moment being send to me.
Europe Books thanks the author Fred Van Oystaeyen once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book Music From the Forest. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, may the various messages here told be interesting and useful for your personal reflections.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor!