Writing saves poet's life

by John Bear

Daily Lobo

Narlan Matos Teixeira is coming up in the world.

Narlan is a graduate student at UNM working toward a degree in Portuguese. He is also becoming a respected poet.

But things haven't always been easy.

He grew up in Itaquara, a city in one of the poorest areas of Brazil.

"My friends used to eat lizards, frogs, whatever they found," he said. "I had a tough childhood. I come from a poor family. My father was a street sweeper. What are the chances of the son of a street sweeper succeeding in life?"

Often sick as a child, his parents had to move into the hospital with him.

He said the autobiography of poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko saved his life.

"I was kind of a rebel adolescent," he said. "In the book, I found a light - something for my life. He showed me that I could make it if I wanted to."

Narlan came to the United States two years ago as an official visitor. He was selected by the State Department to represent Brazil in an international writing program at the University of Iowa.

"It is the most important writer's program in the world," he said. "This program is much more well-known throughout the world than it is in the U.S."

He said most Americans think Iowa only possesses crops.

While in the United States, Narlan began to correspond with several noted poets, including Lawrence Ferlinghetti, author of Coney Island of the Mind.

"I corresponded with him for about a year, also Robert Creeley," he said.

He has also been given the opportunity to send some of his work to Yevtushenko, the poet he credits with inspiring him to become a poet in the first place.

"He asked me to send him a small collection of my poetry," he said. "I am waiting for a response from him."

Though he primarily writes in Portuguese, he has had his poetry translated into English.

He said he also has translations of his poetry in the countries of Slovenia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

Stateside, his work appears in The Poetry of Men's Lives. He said it is the largest and most complete international anthology of poetry ever published in the United States. It features more than 250 poets from 100 countries.

In the future, Narlan says he plans on becoming a professor. He said he is not sure if he wants to go back to Brazil or stay in the United States.

"I want to get to know the world better - travel, go to Africa, Europe, everywhere if possible, if I have money," he said.

He said, though, he isn't concerned about making a lot of money.

"I am poor, man," he said. "I have lots of publications but no money. If you want to make money, you better go into another field."