Cuba leaves behind a successful literary roadmap in 2022 – Guerrilla Newspaper

Cuba turns the page of its cultural itinerary in 2022, which left important achievements in the fields of literature, marked by Covid-19 and its still latent consequences for artistic creation.

The XXX International Book Fair of Havana experienced the ups and downs of the pandemic when it was held from April 20 to 30, two months after its usual date but in tune with its objective: to revere the letters of Mexico and its writers, country Honor guest.

The Caribbean event welcomed the ship ARM Huasteco, from the Mexican Navy Secretariat, which disembarked in Havana with thousands of books, added to materials and donations for Cuban institutions.

Consolidated as a platform for dialogue between both nations, this was the second time that Mexico has been invited to the most popular cultural event in the Antillean nation, since the first time it happened in 1998.

Thanks to the willingness of Mexico, we enjoy its past and contemporary heritage, said then the Cuban Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso, alluding to the presence of notable publishing labels such as the Fund of the National Secretariat.

From its usual headquarters in the Morro-Cabaña Military Complex, the Fair that opened doors to local and foreign visitors, was dedicated to the intellectuals Alberto Prieto and Luis Álvarez, winners of the national prizes for Literature, and Social and Humanistic Sciences.

The jury of the National Literature Prize awarded the highest award of Cuban letters to the professor, editor, translator and journalist Julio Travieso, whose work is one of the most significant in the literary panorama of the last five decades.

Author of recognized titles such as Dust and Gold, To Kill the Wolf and When the Night Dies, Travieso received the award during the great book festival in the country.

Covid-19 could not limit the reach of FILCuba on its tour of all the island’s provinces, with an approximate balance of two million visitors, who accessed nearly four million titles, of which 900 editorial novelties.

From Havana to the eastern Santiago de Cuba, the literary marathon covered figures higher than previous editions in terms of the commercialization of national texts, according to directors of the Cuban Book Institute.

CASA AWARD, MEETING WITH REGIONAL INTELLECTUALITY

Another top meeting with the regional intelligentsia became the Casa de las Américas Literary Award, whose 62nd edition marked the return to the Cuban capital of prestigious voices such as the Argentine poet Jorge Boccanera.

What is poetry good for?, the writer inquired in his opening words of the appointment, who recalled the usefulness of the genre in times of global crisis caused by the pandemic.

Consequently, the Latin American contest – which also included exhibitions, workshops, panels and the presentation of winning books in previous editions – directed its north to defend from Havana the poetic expression so necessary in the 21st century.

His highest awards went to the authors Javier Núñez (Argentina), Luis Llorente (Cuba) and José Antonio Piqueras (Spain) for the novel Hijas de nadie, the collection of poems Exceptional beauty and the text Currency and social malaise, respectively.

After being canceled for the first time since its creation in 1960, the Prize organized by the prestigious continental institution returned to host more than 140 works in competition in the essay, novel and poetry genres.

The Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac) also played a specific role in the promotion of Cuban literature by convening the Meeting on Literary Research and the Julio Cortázar Ibero-American Short Story Award in alliance with the Cuban Book Institute (ICL) and House of the Americas.

It also granted the David prizes that each year distinguishes the work of unpublished authors and paves the way for future publications.

Another reference event was the 28th Havana International Poetry Festival, from May 23 to 28, an event that invited from the Casa del Alba Cultural to exchange around love as a possibility of human redemption, in a world doomed to extinction. of the species.

The event schedule included book presentations, readings by Latin American poets and a tribute to Cuban authors Carilda Oliver Labra and Jesús Orta Ruiz, as well as the volumes Tierra baldía, by TS Elliot and Trilce, by César Vallejo.

REVERENCE TO THE NATIONAL POET OF CUBA

Meanwhile, the central province of Camagüey, the land where Cuba’s national poet was born, irradiated his literary legacy through the Nicolás Guillén International Colloquium, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of his birth.

Dedicated to one of the most important exponents of black poetry in Latin America, the event also evoked the half century since the first publication of his works La rueda dentada and El diario que a diario.

The city declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco also sheltered the life-size effigy by the Cuban sculptor Martha Jiménez, who recalls the author walking, pen and paper in hand, through the Plaza de los Trabajadores.

With a plural look at other countries of the continent such as the United States, the event held from July 7 to 10, pointed out current social phenomena related to the Black Lives Matter movement from the analysis of marginality, poverty and discrimination in the middle of 2022.

Guillén and his writing exercise linked to themes such as race, nation and society or the Caribbean influence in his work marked the theoretical pulse of the contest, in remembrance of the Cuban trip to Haiti eight decades ago.

When it comes to recognition, this year the Cuban writer Senel Paz received the Ernest Hemingway Literature Prize, awarded by the International Literary and Historical Movement of the same name.

The news of the award, for his work as a whole, was known during the third and last day of the XVIII International Colloquium dedicated to the American author and Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

Paz is recognized for his emblematic texts and scripts of Cuban film, including the story El lobo, el bosque y el hombre nuevo, from which the film Fresa y Chocolate emerged.

Great opportunities for exchange meant the International Book Fair of Guadalajara (Mexico) and Filven (Venezuela), where the delegations led by the Cuban Book Institute shared the challenges facing the publishing industry on the island.

The meeting between directors of the Cuban Chamber of Books and the Association of Writers in Paraguay, held at the First National Congress of Booksellers and Publishers based in Argentina, was also supported by the work on co-publishing and future support.

Another significant event was the tribute paid by various institutions to the Cuban poet, decimist and journalist Jesús Orta Ruiz, better known as El Indio Naborí, winner of the 1995 National Literature Award in the last months of 2022.

The country commemorated the centenary of his birth with various activities, while dedicated to this figure the First Ibero-American Congress of the tenth and improvised verse, which brought together artists from different latitudes from October 5 to 7 with a varied program of parties, exchanges theorists, tributes and conferences.

The island and its rich literary movement say goodbye to a prolific year and embark on new paths in their roadmap for 2023.