Days of Tribute to the Poet Agustín Acosta Begin
The days for the centenary of the book La zafra and the 140th anniversary of the birth of National Poet Agustín Acosta will take place starting tomorrow, with three days of intense activities in the municipalities of Matanzas and Jagüey Grande.
The Casa de la Memoria Escénica will be the setting on this 10th for the gathering «De Memoria a Memoria» (From Memory to Memory), a session that will bring together representatives of the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Center, the Casa de la Memoria Escénica itself, and the Digdora Alonso Casa de las Letras.
It is about exchanging on the role of memory, its conservation and dissemination from the experience of those three Cuban institutions in different spheres.
On this occasion, it will be dedicated to the stories of sugar in literature and art, and as a homage to the poetry collection La zafra, a work that reflected the events in the country’s fields at the beginning of the last century.
The activities will begin at nine in the morning with the panel «Preservar y vivir la memoria» (Preserving and Living Memory), which will feature the participation of Víctor Casaus, Alfredo Zaldívar, and Ulises Rodríguez Febles.
Immediately after will be the panel «Memorias del azúcar en la poesía, el teatro y el testimonio» (Memories of Sugar in Poetry, Theater, and Testimony), with the interventions of Maylan Álvarez, José Luis Muñoz, Gaudencio, and Ulises Rodríguez, moderated by Israel Domínguez, plus a performance show by stage artists, as well as book presentations and, in the afternoon, the holding of the Café Mezclao space at the UNEAC social house.
The 11th and 12th in Jagüey Grande, where the Matanzas bard lived, will correspond to the remaining gatherings.
The opening includes the exhibition «El poeta de las carretas y el Jagüey de 1926» (The Poet of the Carts and the Jagüey of 1926), by Marvis Cuñarro, followed by the interactive Colloquium on «La Zafra and Its Importance in Literature.» Invited are creators Denia García Ronda, Gina Cabrera Galán, Yolanda Brito Álvarez, and Manfred Tápanes Ortega, grandson of the poet and special assistant, along with Humberto Rodríguez, historian of the City of Jagüey Grande.
Then will proceed the launch of the third publication in Cuba of the text La Zafra by Ediciones Matanzas, and the Award Ceremony of the Agustín Acosta 2026 National Poetry Contest, with the announcement of the jury, composed of Damaris Calderón Campos, Abel González Fagundo, and Carlos Ettiel Gómez Abreu, who had already chosen ten finalists.
There will also be, during the two sessions, book launches, panels on the imprint of the lawyer and notary in the Jagüey Grande city, declamations of his poems, and at the close, a tribute will be paid to our Agustín Acosta, with the participation of researchers, writers, and literature lovers.
