Luna Miguel (Alcalá de Henares, 1990) journalist, essayist, poet and novelist. Among his works stand out poems such as masculine poetry (The Beautiful Warsaw, 2021); novels like lolita’s funeral (Lumen, 2018); essay The colloquium of the bitches (Captain Swing, 2019) and his most recent publication; Reading kills.
How has your relationship with Nicaraguan literature been?
I must say that I am guilty of being ignorant of the literature of your country. Beyond Gioconda Belli I have not had obsessions and access. Even when I have tried, it has been practically difficult for me to access contemporary Nicaraguan authors.
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Did that approach to Belli’s poetry take place in your youth?
My mother liked it a lot. I remember the anthology The woman’s eye, from Viewer. I think he interested me because of some poem that had to do with his sexuality or menstruation. My mother was the one who lent me that book and, above all, it was based on the theme. Therefore, my entry was thematic.
Nicaraguans are experiencing a very serious dictatorial situation. The government resorts to literary and media censorship. From your journalistic perspective, have you been aware of the situation?
It is terrifying and realizes how important the word is. I have seen Sergio Ramírez in some events and it is chilling to listen to his speeches, his experiences. Above all, also think that a reader there cannot access one of his references. The fact that you are banned from accessing a referrer is chilling. Normally, these types of regimes are apparently proud. Moving to Spain I think of VOX: patriotism and the importance of the flag, but when you are censoring the people who write from that flag you don’t care about the creation, the literature, the imagination or the creativity of your own country.
One of the areas where the censorship of the regime grows the most is the literary one.
Censoring literature is for cowards.
Journalism has also been greatly affected.
Terrifying again. Who censors journalism is cowardly, inept and useless. Whoever censors the one who tells and wants to inform others is even more cowardly. You are not only attacking a person who is professional and does his job, but also against the public and those who will not be able to access the information that journalist was giving us. For bringing it to this continent with the war in Ukraine we are constantly seeing it.
The importance of journalism in society continues, right?
It is clear that they make us think that we matter little because we work with something as simple as “little words”. The case of Sergio and that of the exiled Nicaraguan journalists shows that the word continues to be annoying and that the powerful cannot stand that someone releases a truth and the plurality of truths, because they do not allow information. Not reporting means you don’t want people to hate you.
Why do you think a dictator resorts to media control and censorship?
Many times the powerful that censors is because he wants there to be a story about himself. When there is only one story it is impossible to know the world. In fact, I think that’s why we like literature and read a lot to get different points of view on things. When there’s only one story, it’s probably the biggest liar of all.
Have you ever censored yourself?
I think so. There are many topics like mental health that I haven’t dared to write about.
Because of fear?
I don’t know if it’s because of fear. Sometimes when you expose something you lend yourself to it being used. I have seen myself stop writing opinion columns because I am terrified by that violent response on social networks and, above all, that a politician —even if I like his way of thinking or acting— can use my speech in his favor . That is a bit of self-censorship that I practice right now.
