Suarez Castle, poet or writer?
I'm a poet, and at least in narratives or narratives, I'm not as good as in poetry. I stand out in poetry, if I stand out.

He started winning two years in a row the poetry competition of the new authors of the City of Pamplona.
I believe that the Navarros writers' quarry has emerged largely thanks to this competition. That's where a lot of writer has come from, both in poetry and in storytelling. Anjel Erro, Joxemiel Bidadores, Aingeru Epaltza, Alberto Ladrón, Gorka Urbizu, Jon Barberena, Bea Chivite, Hasier Larretxea, Juanjo Olasgrip, Nerea Balda, Saioa Alkaiza… many good writers.

Is poetry close?
Yes. I think I have a style that has to do with my identity. I'm realizing that with age, I'm becoming more and more like our father, and that's very ironic. If I am calm I am very ironic and in short words. I don't write about myself, but I write. I have a lot of tendency towards synthesis and I think that is also reflected in my poetry. Well selected words and not leftover words.

I have always been very aware that I write for another. I do not write to myself and I have no therapeutic or similar intention. I try to do something that serves the reader.

And what is poetry for?
I think poetry makes me better. In the end, you look at things with other eyes. Whoever writes knows how to defend himself. I think writing well helps you a lot in the vida.Los
young poets claim that their work connects well with young people. Instagram poetry is fashionable today: an idea expressed in very few words and that gives you a sort of pan.

His poetry was like this at first. Did I do Instagram poetry before Instagram existed?
Yes. I've shared axes there and here. I think I have a reputation for being dry, serious and in a nutshell. It is true that I like to keep distance and space with others. Maybe it has something to do with my childhood. In a distant place we lived across the highway and I was the only kid in the neighborhood. With my sister I'm four years apart and we didn't play together. Maybe that's why I'm lonely. I live surrounded by people, but I'm also satisfied.

And you do your apology ...
Yes. It's very badly seen going to film alone and doing things like that, for example, and I disagree. In addition, I drive more than 30,000 kilometers a year by car, alone, immersed in my thoughts. I have a lot to travel for work and militancy, and that's why I've bought a red sports car now. Flipan in Euskaltzaindia.

Where do you do your militant work?
I believe that I have worked in almost every institution in the Basque sector. I've been to Topagunea, to the Sociolinguistics Cluster, to the Basque Writers Association and to the Berria Board of Administration, and now I'm chairman of EKKI, Basque Body of Bodybuilders, and I'm in the direction of Galtzagorri. In addition, I do the works that literature gives me. For example, I'm in many courts. People don't want to, and since I don't know how to say no, I do. Now I've started saying no because I don't have time. Somebody has to do it, and you know, if you do something with a little bit of foundation and within a deadline, they also call you the next year. In Euskalgintza we work decisively and yet look at how we are.

Has your poetic work changed in these years? Now can you talk about a deeper melody?
I think so. At first, I published very often, and maybe I launched very similar things. Then you demand more and you want to do something different and better. Many poetry books are published in Basque, but there are very few poets. It's one thing to take out a book of poetry and another to be a poet.

Many publish a book, but then they don't follow and the hardest part is to keep writing and doing something different. In that sense, I think I have a pretty good criticism, but I do not sell many books. Poetry is not sold.

I often lose money with poetry. I've had two big personal bets lately and put money on them: The book "Snow on Snow" and the performance of Alaska in the Victoria Eugenia of San Sebastian took place in September in the Hours of Poetry. Alaska will also come out as a book next year.

Is that also in self-editing, as in Elurra on snow?
No. This will be taken out by Elkarri. It's about self-publishing only for once in life. And such a performance. I did it with Juantxo Zeberio and Xabi Lozano and it was wonderful, but difficult because it has very high technical needs to do it again. But not impossible.

What's the story of Alaska?
Alaska is an abandoned hotel near where I was born. The idea of filmmaker Maddi Barber is the grieving of places. The towns and corners covered by the water he had in his head. In this work, I'm talking about what you lose. They were related to you, but to places that no longer exist. I'm also talking about objects. Objects bind us to other people, and when you cut a relationship, I remember what we do to those things.

He has compiled custom made poems on snow. What does it look like? It is a
very special work because it contains special texts created for special moments and for special people. Fernando Rey translated some of them and his idea was to meet in a book. Txakur Gorriak’s beautiful illustrations. The odyssey was huge, a plea, because I left in December when the paper was more expensive and there was a transport strike. I won't do more self-editing, that's what the editors are for. The product has been done by Elkar, we did not want to take out too many units and to our surprise it has been sold very well.

And have their issues also changed in these years?
Lately, I'm using a lot of elements of nature in poems. To persevere in my last book, I talked about the sentimental landscape of my hometown, and I think I'm also going to talk about the botany of love.

Sakana is an industrial area surrounded by mountains and, of course, Gipuzkoa. There, forests are not largely public and managed for profit. In Navarre, fortunately, they are all of us. I live there, on that border.

Why do you write children's literature?
I do the stories I like. I write to myself and the truth is that there are things that are not publicables.Por another part, it seems that in children's literature they work on other parameters and that all books should have a goal. If I speak burned or I'm lean or I live alone with my mother ... There's a kind of pressure with the thematic books, they're self-help books and it's not necessary. I think a book should reach the heart and in those good books we talk about all the issues: loneliness, grief, deficiencies… I don’t think we are happier than in adulthood. He suffers equally or more. I'm not interested in that false idea of an absolutely happy childhood.

You are an Basque technician in the profession.
I'm a vocational Basque technician, but it's true that I don't get too tired and it gives me the opportunity and the flexibility to do other things. I started in Bortziriak, and there I studied most of what I know. The technicians there were and are exemplary. Then I came to Sakana and here I've spent the last 20 years, taking Burlada's cake. I always say I have a very boring job because I'm a manager to a large extent and I believe it because of that, because energy doesn't escape me at work.

What would you like to get as a technician?
I would like children and young people to realize and enjoy the creations in Basque. So that through creativity all people, but especially children and young people, can achieve an adherence to language. But this is very difficult, both for objective reasons and because in life there are decisions that lead you to one language or another. In my case, for example, in our house there has always been strong adherence to the Basque Country and cultura.Tengo that base, but in addition, in the institute of Altsasu / Alsasua I met with the young people of Arbizu and Etxarri, and for them the most natural thing was to work in Basque; I also entered into that Basque environment, if I am not sure I would have more Castilian.

In general, I have the feeling that in many ways we have not made progress and are still subject to precarious legislation. We in Sakana, for example, have not managed to generalise model D and in some villages usage has fallen considerably, for example in Urdiain, partly because of the behaviour of mixed couples.

You also work with people who come to live from outside with the intention of bringing it to the Basque country. How is the situation in Sakana?
Data from street measurement was recently presented. The use of Spanish, Basque, French and other languages is measured, and the results show that in three localities, Irurtzun, Huarte and Lakuntza the percentage of these languages is very high.

On the other hand, it is clear that the social level has much to do with it. The Basque language is not the language of the poor, because to study we still have to pay. To learn Basque, it takes time and money, and you also have to feel that it serves you for something, and I don't mean just work. There's a lot there. I am responsible for distributing subsidies and, in doing the sociology of the bar, I can say that there is much more sensitivity on the part of those who come from outside than on the part of their own. Among the Basque learning requests are people from Denmark, Uruguay, Catalonia, Brazil...

Another notable phenomenon is that of grandfather, which is very clear here in Sakana. I'm not saying grandpa. There are many men who have retired, have Basque nephews and have decided to learn Basque. Perhaps women have a very full and organized schedule, while men may have more time to learn Basque after leaving work.

What can you bring to Euskaltzaindia?
I've dedicated my entire life to Basque, at work, creativity, militancy ... I receive this appointment as recognition. I also understand that there is an intention to do something in contemporary literature, and in that I think I can aportar.Hay two national associations that work in the promotion of literature, the Basque Writers Association and the Galtzagorri Association, and I think something can be done with them.

How do I know the situation in the Basque literature?
Ours is a minority language and it is given an exotic air outside, but as far as literature is concerned, I believe that very things are done here homologables.Yo would always talk about Basque literature. Sometimes they call me to talk about the Navarra literature, but I do not think it exists, nor in Spanish are there Navarre literature with its own characteristics.

If there's movement here and a lot of Basque creators, right?
In Navarre there are many people who live in Spanish but who believe in Basque. And I would say more in the County of Pamplona. There is a conscience and the creators who know Basque believe in Basque. This gives language status. There are many creators and very good. Then another thing is whether there's an audience for all performances or reading so many books -- but that's because we're largely a minority language.

What do you have now in your hands?
I'm translating poems from Ramón Andrés, we'll publish the book Alaska in the new year and I'm preparing an introductory lecture to Euskaltzaindia to read it in eight months.

Always working?
Always working. This year I haven't enjoyed my holiday yet!

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LAST WORD

WHILE WE DO NOT HAVE EMBASSIES "Snow
on snow is one of the custom poems of Martin Ugalde, read in the Urmuga event in July 2021. The final verse says: “We could stay in a newspaper until we have an embassy,” paying tribute to the founders of Euskaldunon Egunkaria. “They had intended to make a card with that poem and distribute it in the act, but someone decided that that poem was ‘too political’ to be distributed, and I say: What is more political than doing a national newspaper?”