A ‘broke writer’ reflecting on art, queerness and livelihood 

Brazilian Ismar Tirelli Neto describes himself as a ‘broke writer’. A self-taught poet, fictionist, translator and screenwriter, he was in search of developing a research-based programme in a less formal knowledge-sharing space when he put together his project ‘Interferer’, selected in Pro Helvetia’s annual call for Artists-in-Residency. 

For his residency, which took place from April to July 2024, at Kulturhaus Villa Sträuli in Winterthur, Ismar proposed to conduct a history-based research and create a set of poems investigating (and repurposing) relations between economy, homosexuality, and the act of writing itself. 

‘I don’t think there was ever a time when I was not reflecting on those topics because I am a gay, broke writer,’ the artist explains. ‘It’s funny, because the lives we lead are not very conducive to investigation and study and reflection in any sense. And those themes are not secondary to my experience, they are very much foundational. But I couldn’t quite give an account of them. So, this is what prompted me to apply for the residency; I wanted time in a non-institutional setting to delve deeper into these topics.’ 

During this time, he explored the local scene (despite not being much of a networker, as he says, rather a bit of a recluse), gave one of his performative readings, for which he is also known, besides worked on his poem cycle. 

Originally intended to be written in Portuguese, the texts took a different turn. ‘I think the shock of being surrounded by so many languages that I couldn’t quite master, the predominance of German specifically, a language that I find impregnable, made me feel isolated in a very interesting way. And I found myself writing in English directly, there was a freshness to this enterprise.’ 

At Villa Sträuli, the artist also conducted a queer-poetry workshop titled ‘Leave Them to Heaven’, a constructive debate about queer textual practices. Drawing on authors such as the Portuguese Luis Miguel Nava, the Argentinian Nestor Perlongher and the Brazilian Roberto Piva, the encounter intended to discuss stylistic tactics and ‘sense-making strategies, usually frowned upon by more conventional readers, that can be very interesting political allies,’ says Ismar. ‘Basically an acknowledgment of the madness of language.’ 

Finally, the ‘broke writer’ has used this time to immerse himself in his own craft. ‘I’m having the time of my life, basically. I’m almost 40 (don’t be fooled by my youthful exterior!) and this is the first time I was able to focus exclusively on what I feel is my vocation. Because I’ve been provided with a structure not only to go about the project, but to go about it my way, which is so important.’