Antón Arrufat’s presence in Matanzas.
The versatile writer Antón Arrufat Mrad used to come to the Athens of Cuba as if he were at his family home, invited to continuous presentations by the provincial Centre for Books and Literature and a large group of writers from Matanzas.
The closest wake was felt this year with the publication by Ediciones Matanzas of the compilation En boca de otros (In the Mouths of Others).
The notebook contains essays, reviews, undergraduate and postgraduate theses, a collage of interviews and other texts that highlight the particular mission of the National Literature Prize winner in his various facets: poetry, essays, narrative and theatre.
Gifted with virtuoso oratory, Antón put his own thoughts into words, when he expressed to the Matanzas audience, in more than one of his interventions, that true communication between us is achieved through the naturalness, the freedom, the impetus, that we use in the use of language. Something that has to do with the structure of the sentence,» he said, «unexpected, rich in diverse voices, spontaneous, full of complex surprises…».
His voice is remembered in the Casa de la Memoria Escénica and in literary spaces organised by the UNEAC Yumurina and the Provincial Directorate of Culture.
The presence of his works in Cuba’s Athens is remarkable, on unforgettable occasions, such as in 2008 when the International Book Fair in Cuba was dedicated to him and the Vigía publishing house published Manual de Inexpertos, with 18 previously unpublished poems and the text handmade and illustrated with the design of the master Rolando Estévez Jordán.
Or when Las máscaras de Talía was launched, also published that year by Matanzas editions, a relevant essay by Arrufat on the life and work of the Cuban writer Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda.
Of special significance for us was his study on the epistolary style and «Cuban» language of José Jacinto Milanés, with a delicate and at the same time acute characterisation of the terms used by the romantic poet and playwright in the mid-19th century.
For many years, his assistance was appreciated for the wide-ranging mastery that characterised him in so many different genres. She also participated as a jury member in important competitions and research colloquiums in the city.
Before his departure, a special tribute was paid to him in the Café Mezcla’o space, directed by the National Prize for Publishing, Alfredo Zaldívar, director of Matanzas editions, who praised Arrufat’s work, which was also remembered in the verses of poets and troubadours, gathered in the Social House of Writers and Artists.
Antón Arrufat Mrad was born in Santiago de Cuba on 14 August 1935 and died in Havana on 21st May 2023. Among his awards are: Mention in Theatre for El vivo al pollo and in Poetry for Repaso final at Casa de las Américas and Theatre Prize of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba for Los siete contra Tebas.
He received the Alejo Carpentier Medal and the National Prize for Literature in 2000.
Written by María Elena Bayón Mayor.
