Max Lobe, when studying at USI leads to becoming a writer

The young French-speaking Swiss-Cameroonian Max Lobe arrived in Ticino from Cameroon in 2004 to join part of his family to continue his studies at Università della Svizzera italiana where, four years later, he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences. Today, Max lives in Geneva but returns often to Ticino, to visit family and friends, but also to take part in cultural events such as Chiasso Letteraria, in May, or in public conferences like the one that will take place at USI on October 25 (www.usi.ch/en/feeds/8158), at which Max will discuss about the challenges of the oral form in literature. In this interview, Max tells us more about his experience at USI and in Ticino.

What brought you to USI?

When I graduated from high school (baccalauréat, in the French system) at the age of 16, my dream was to become a war correspondent, an ambassador, or a diplomat. In Cameroon, however, there is a saying: "who pays, decides". So it was my parents who decided what I had to study at the university in Cameroon. They chose economics and management at the University of Duala. I didn't like it very much, not even a bit, but I was a good student and I did well. Then one day my mother asked me if I didn't want to come and study in Switzerland. I thought it was a joke. Of course, a part of my family was in Switzerland and my parents had already been there before, but I didn't think it would be my turn. It wasn't part of my plans. My sister had just moved from Val Verzasca to Lugano, near USI, and she would have liked to see me study here. So, reminiscent of my dreams as a war correspondent, in a very natural way I chose to study Communication Sciences. It turned out that I became neither a reporter nor a diplomat, but a writer. Which I would say is even better.

What can you say about that experience?

I have very good memories of my studies at USI, as well as bad ones (yes, there are a few), which over time have nevertheless become positive. I will always remember the incredible opportunity that Professor Andrea Rocci gave me. It's still incredible today, if I think about it! He chose me to become his assistant for the course on Verbal Communication. That decision was (and still is, in my eyes) amazing because my Italian was not perfect. It's not perfect today either, to tell the truth, but back then... I believe, however, that Prof. Rocci chose me because he saw my work, my method, my passion for what I was studying and the evolution with which a person had after practicing the language only for a few months. I really loved studying Communication Sciences, I did it with all my heart. It was the exactly the subject I liked! I still use the theories I learned in my daily communication practice. And as a writer, I have a lot to do with words, both written and oral. Words and sentences are my job. I always have to choose the best way to tell a story, to invent characters, to make them communicate, to make them realistic, coherent with each other. I start with an inner voice, an insisting voice. When I get it right, that voice, I find the word, a trivial word perhaps, but a single word, to which I then add another, and yet another: a sentence is thus composed with elements that intertwine, fitting together with a rhythm, a melody. This is how I gradually manage to create a paragraph, a chapter, a story, a reflection, and then, at the end, a novel. It's a very long journey. I am absolutely convinced that the lectures of professors such as Rigotti, Rocci, Carassa (Psychology of communication) are still helping me a lot today. What I learned with them is the very basis of my work. I thank them with all my heart. Sincerely.

Are there any experiences you have had in Ticino that you have described in your books?

Yes, in my novel “La Trinità Bantu”, the second I wrote in French, the first translated into Italian; also in the first book I wrote (in French), “39 rue de Berne”, which will soon be published in Italian as well, by the publisher 66th&2nd.