Back in September 2019, Agnes Marton from Hungary/ Luxembourg spent ten days in La Bodeguita Writing Retreat in Dafni, Evia. According to her review, she seemed to enjoy her stay and she thanked us for our hospitality.
At that time, Agnes was working on several projects but we can remember that she was quite busy with a jaguar research. A few weeks ago, we got some exciting news!!!
Agnes Marton poem “Mission Jaguar” got published in Issue Twenty Four of Long Poem Magazine in the UK.
Congratulations Agnes!!! This is really impressive.
Honestly, we cannot describe better our excitement, pride and honour for this accomplishment which somehow took place in one of our Writing Retreats.
Please allow 5 minutes to read an extract:
The Jaguar God of Terrestrial Plague
The Aged Jaguar Paddler,
steering the canoe with Tonsured Maize God.
A nagual, protecting shamans from evil spirits.
Earth, you gave me pace and reproach.
I keep repeating the same mistake.
Habitat loss.
The Jaguar Patron of the War Mouth of Pax.
The Jaguar Goddess of Midwifery and War.
Peacing out sea, piercing out the Earth —
the Jaguar of the Backward Glance.
Agnes comments about this publication:
“To be able to explore the jaguar corridor and the jaguar habitat in Costa Rica, to do field trips to national parks like Corvcovcado, Amistad and Piedras Blancas, and to become familiar with the Boruca culture, I applied for and won the Jaguar Luna Arts Collective Residency and also the Mauser Harmony with Nature Foundation residency.
However, because of COVID-19, my research trip had to be postponed, probably until March 2021, maybe longer. I used the lockdown for doing the necessary research, and for finishing my poem sequence anyway. I studied wide-ranging areas from felid conservation to animal tales.
I tried to make the best of the situation and to reflect on the lockdown as well as ecological issues, the extended role of social media in our limited lives, the selfie-culture and artistic self-representation, the way mythology and shamanic practices might infiltrate the mundane and ephemeral. Instead of looking into the necessity and the advantages of wearing surgical masks, but certainly hinting at them, I elaborated on numerous aspects of artistic masks: their history, techniques to create them, cultures where they were widely used.
Masks also gave me the opportunity to ruminate over identity, integrity, trust and betrayal, even blasphemy. Another part of the poem sequence revolves around desires and expectations, fulfilment and loss. The text is multi-layered with vivid imagery and playful language.
These jaguars lured me and haunted me throughout the lockdown.”
Issue 24 of Long Poem Magazine that includes Agnes’s poem Mission Jaguar (along with other amazing pieces of writing of course) is available for orders here: http://longpoemmagazine.org.uk/issues/issue-twenty-four/
Long Poem Magazine is recognised as a place to encounter the best of traditional and innovative new writing, with a prestigious and growing list of contributors. More details about it can be found here: http://longpoemmagazine.org.uk/about/.
From the bottom of our heart, we wish to Agnes some more greater achievements in the future.
Agnes, once again we would like to deeply thank you for your decision to spent time in La Bodeguita and work on your writing projects in Greece. Looking forward to hosting you again in December 2020!!!
As long as you love what you do, success is the only way.