“I was born on the tuna seas / where the Ionian Sea shows its sweetness / and in the winter its terrible motion. And then that the face of the fishermen / has the shape of the wind / and between sea and land there is only one space ". Thus we begin our interview with Stephen Minerva, mayor thirty-three of Gallipoli who enchanted fellow citizens with his poetry.
The verses are those of Vittore Fiore, poet, writer and journalist from Gallipoli who with his lines is one of the protagonists of Italian culture. In his municipal office, Mayor Minerva has affixed Fiore's words, and today we will talk about poetry with him.
Stefano Minerva, you are known as the "Poet Mayor of Gallipoli". What is poetry for you and where do you draw inspiration from?
To call it passion would be an understatement. I love poetry and all the facets in which it is able to decline. There is poetry in everything that surrounds us: the flight of a seagull, the sunset, the smell of sauce in the streets of the historic center cooked by old ladies. It is poetry. It is poetry that surrounds us. Whoever manages to put all this into verse gives a gift to the world. Poetry that becomes poetry. I try, humbly. I leave great poetry to others but I feel in me the need to express what I feel. I do it when I feel that I can't help but write. So that's it: I take a pen and paper and the rest comes by itself.
"Between the myrtle and the flag" is the title of one of your poems published by Hesperides. What are the main themes of the book? In that collection there is a lot of me, all the things that belong to me or with which I have a particular relationship. Like "My beard" or the dedication to the city I love most, my Gallipoli. In those poems I wrote you, in clear letters, part of my life.
If we tell you "You don't know the South, the lime houses from which we came out in the sun like numbers from the face of a dice", what do these verses bring to mind?
Well, let's play at home. Bodini reflects in his verses a disarming reality that fascinates me like few others. Therefore, citing Bodini, I cannot fail to mention Victor Fiore, indeed the fellow citizen Fiore. His verses are also reported in a murals dedicated to poetry, at the entrance to the city and here too, in my municipal office. "I was born on the tuna seas where the Ionian Sea shows its sweetness", it is poetry.
Speaking of Gallipoli, your city, what do you want most of all for it?
There is no doubt: continuous improvement. Gallipoli is beautiful, but I'm not saying it, the name says it. The term Gallipoli derives from Kale polis, the beautiful city. This means that the city has always been recognized as a flagship of the Mediterranean. My goal is just this: make it shine, more and more every day.
You became mayor at a very young age. And Gallipoli is not an easy task. Where does your energy come from?
I have always been involved in politics - says Stefano Minerva - since I was very young. As the poetry, politics is a passion, something you feel inside. When you have this inner fire you can't ignore it. I grew up in Gallipoli and here I spent my life: seeing that blue sea and live the warmth of citizens gives me one incredible strength.
Recently he was designated as Representative of the Union of the Provinces of Italy in the Permanent Committee for the promotion of tourism in Italy. How do you imagine Gallipoli tourism for the years to come?
Tourism is one of the pillars of the local economy. Public / private interaction is therefore necessary for continuous development. Tourism in Gallipoli has undergone changes: when the media gave Gallipoli for nothing because it was "without young people", cultural tourism and families immediately raised the index. It all comes down to investing in appropriate strategies and having clear programming in the medium / long term. I hope that today, tomorrow, ten years from now, always, Gallipoli will always be a very popular destination.
