Ghosts, monsters, dancers and mythological figures meet in a universe full of imagination and mystery in the book The Girl and the Armageddon. In this collection of 60 surrealist poems, writer Sérgio Coelho takes the reader on a journey through the labyrinths of the unconscious, exploring themes such as love, death, maturation and human anguish. Inspired by the Surrealist movement, the author combines mythology, fantastic narratives and existential reflections to create a work that challenges the mind and moves the heart.
Surrealism is one of the great inspirations for “The Girl and Armageddon”. As you delve into this peculiar universe, how do you believe surrealism can broaden our understanding of such profound themes as love and death?
In taking the Surrealist Movement as inspiration for the texts in the book, I did not worry about extracting ready-made explanations from the movement itself or indicating paths to follow. Each of the poems, or most of them, arose from my own experience or ideas about the themes. Furthermore, each poem resulted from a creative effort, from the care taken not to hinder myself while each text emerged.
The reflections that accompany or occur in each text are made so that the reader can take them for himself without this happening in a truly surrealist way. Whether life imitates art or whether art incites life are questions that each person must understand for themselves, even if this leads to an awareness of what life is.
When I bring surrealist inspiration to my texts, I do so as a mere aesthetic choice. On the other hand, if the texts incite the reader, instigating reflections, it is because they were created for that purpose as well.
The book covers a wide range of settings and characters, from a young woman searching for truth to monsters and deities. How did you choose these distinct elements to form a cohesive narrative, and which ones resonated most with you during the writing process?
Although the poems are distinct from each other and almost all appear in the book in the order in which they were created, I deliberately wanted to highlight the “saga” of the girl who runs away from home and ends up involved in Armageddon, a battle that would take place in the midst of the Apocalypse. As strange as it may seem, this was not planned, at least not consciously. The idea of a god singing in parallel universes occurred to me while watching a recorded concert in a museum. While watching, the insight for the title poem came to me. The six poems in sequence that make up the girl’s saga feature divine and mythological beings, even making references to Brazilian folklore. With this versatility, I bet on an engaging story.
In “The Mute and the Sword,” you use nature as a metaphor for depression. Was writing a way to deal with these personal concerns, or do you see your work more as a universal reflection on these themes?
We often need to understand what we lack so that we can seek it. This poem refers to situations I have experienced many times and from which I have had difficulty escaping for various reasons. I do not know how much can be done with this poem, but I hope that many people will learn a lot. I am also sure that many do not even need to read it.
I didn’t always have a voice… that’s why the poem may even resonate with those who have found themselves in distressing situations without knowing what to do.
The protagonist of your book is a young woman who finds herself involved in an apocalyptic plot, with figures and deities. What do you think this journey represents in the context of today’s youth, who face a world full of uncertainty?
The character’s journey is the “hero’s journey,” a well-known theme among writers. On the other hand, instead of needing a new hero or heroine, we need each one to learn how to resolve their conflicts or save themselves from the troubles they find themselves in. To do this, it is always necessary to know one’s own potential in order to calculate the risks one will face. Good preparation is what makes a great protagonist.
During the writing process, you mentioned that you found creative inspiration in Surrealism. What did this movement, with its emphasis on the unconscious and dreams, bring to your literary and artistic vision?
The inspiration from the Surrealist Movement came in handy, since one of its guidelines is free creation without self-censorship. In this book, I wrote in a flow. Instead of having ready-made ideas , a verse would emerge simply because the previous verse was ready and I needed to achieve coherence between them, in the stanzas and in the poem. I only edited the text a few times before considering it finished. This gave me an unusual experience, because I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish one of the most intriguing poems in the book: “Waiting for the King”.
“The Death Sentence” begins in a fantastical way and turns into a reflection on the transience of life. How do you see the role of fantasy and imagination in dealing with such real and existential issues as attachment to fleeting things?
We live in fantasy. We are the living dead, mummified by beliefs, values, ideas , preferences, illusions, appetites, etc. Behind attachment is fear. We are afraid of what might change and we cling to what we have and what we are, because that makes it easier to not remember that everything changes. In “The Death Sentence”, I make a pun on the idea of mummification that we have today precisely because we ignore almost everything related to the mummification process of ancient civilizations.
The “mummy” is a person who went through life without being able to give it a purpose, a meaning, living up to the “Death Sentence”, a verdict given to the soul that was unable to learn in time what to do with its own life.
You describe the book as a creative game, involving the reader’s mind. What do you hope the reader will take away from this immersive and challenging literary experience?
The book was designed to encourage the reader to savor each poem calmly, so that the meaning of the words surprises him at the end of each verse.