YOU COULD WRITE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE AND EVERYONE WOULD READ IT

INTERVIEW WITH NADYA ROTH

OCA Magazine: Tell us, please, about yourself and your creative activity / work.
Nadya Roth: I was born in Moldova, in the town of Bender, graduated from the K.D. Ushinsky Pedagogical Institute in Odessa as a physics teacher and moved to Germany as a permanent resident in 1993. I am currently retired and living in the city of Rastatt. In the spring of 2000 I started to publish my poems in Facebook groups and a few years later I participated for the first time in a collection of prose and poetry. Since then, my poems have been included in eighteen anthologies. Among them are “Anthology of Russian Writers of North America” (volume 4, SPCA), “Chinese Anthology 2022”, collections of prose and poetry by “Four” Publishing House (St. Petersburg), publications in the almanac “Stream of Spirit” (Moscow) and the magazine “Friendship of People” edited by Ubaidullo Sanginov. Besides publications, I actively participate in literary contests. Among my awards are eleven diplomas of nominee, including the diploma of nominee of the Walt Whitman International Literary Competition (ILACT, shortlisted, 2023).

I also hold the status of laureate and winner of literary competitions. These include the diploma Third Degree Laureate of the Best Words – Intonations Competition and Diploma of the Winner of the Literary Prize “Vocation – Writer” (Four Publishing House, 2022), First Degree Laureate of the Literary Prize “Simpletons Abroad” named after Mark Twain (SPCA, 2023), Statuette of the Winner of the Competition “Four Elements” (Four Publishing House, 2022), 2022), the cup of the winner of the contest “Shine of Talent” in the nomination “Poetry” (Publishing House “Four”, 2024), the medal “The Heritage of Literature of the 21st Century” and “Award plaque for contribution to the development of literary reading” of “Literaturnaya Gazeta” (Moscow) and Publishing House “Four” (St. Petersburg). Petersburg). In 2022 the collection of my poems “Pink Ticket” was published (publishing house “Four”). I am a member of ECG (London), a member of SPCA and the literary club “Creativity and Potential” (St. Petersburg).

OCA: How did you choose your path and who is your role model in the creative space or life?
NR: In my youth I loved the poems of Lermontov and Byron. And in my student days I became interested in women writers, and the poems of Veronika Tushnova particularly impressed me with their pervasiveness. I did not even suspect that I had literary abilities, although at the final exams after graduating from high school my essay on Russian literature was recognised as the best among all the graduates of the city. It was my mother who pushed me to be creative. One day she literally said to me: “You could write a book about your life and everyone would read it,” and I thought: “I can’t write a book, but I’ll try poetry. Most of my poems are about memories. So I will say this: my best mentor was and is life itself.

OCA: What is your main achievement in 2023-2024?
NR: I consider my admission to the Eurasian Creative Guild on 1 April 2023 as the main event. And among my achievements I would like to mention two: the cup of the winner of the literary contest “The Brilliance of Talent” in the nomination “Poetry” and the first degree diploma of the Mark Twain literary prize “Simpletons Abroad”.

OCA: What is the main feature that makes you and your art/work unique?
NR: Sincerity. In my relationships with people, I have never excelled in openness, but in my poems I reveal the whole palette of my feelings and emotions. In fact, my poems open the door to my inner world and are absolutely devoid of falsehood and pretence. I would even say – naked.

OCA: Tell us, please, about the events or projects of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) and projects that you have already taken part in and how does ECG influence your creativity and success in your work?
NR: The very fact of joining ECG (LONDON) has raised my status and given me more confidence, which has had a positive impact on my creative work. During my year of membership, I managed to enter the Voices of Friends poetry competition twice and I am very pleased that my poems have been submitted to the
and that one of them will be published in the anthology. I have also been involved in supporting a charity project to create a museum dedicated to autism. I have first-hand knowledge of people with Asperger’s Syndrome and I was deeply touched by this show of concern for them. The scale and diversity of the Guild’s projects is amazing.

OCA: What is your motivation and the main aim of your creativity?
NR: Natural curiosity and observation, interest in all facets of existence, amazement at life – all this gives rise to all sorts of feelings, sometimes resulting in an emotional explosion. This explosion requires its embodiment in lines, and it is from this moment that my work on the poem begins. And the aim is the same: not to leave the reader indifferent. It should make the reader think about something, rethink something, and definitely make a good start.

OCA: What would you wish for the members of the Guild and other creative people, just starting their career?
NR: I would like them to improve constantly, not to be indifferent and to be attentive to the world around them. And above all, to write only according to the dictates of the soul and in complete harmony with it.

YOU COULD WRITE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE AND EVERYONE WOULD READ IT