A new bridge for the city of Matanzas (+audios and spot).

The birth of the International Poetry Festival of the City of Matanzas adds values to the numerous literary charms of the city that has been baptized as the Athens of Cuba for its recognition as Creative City of Literature.

Since this Tuesday a new bridge was born to Matanzas. Sedimented on the exquisite tradition, not only poetic (although not in vain the city is recognized as the City of Poets), but literary, with all its forms, languages, genres and essences; a bridge whose columns support the work of yesterday and today, with the solidity provided by the immense collection that is kept in this province.

See also: https://www.radio26.cu/noticias-de-matanzas/cultura/abre-con-gala-festival-internacional-de-poesia-ciudad-de-matanzas-2024/

«Puentes poéticos» has its origin in the city’s need for an international event, not only because of the poetic tradition that began to be forged since the 19th century and turned it, as Cintio Vitier said, into the poetic center of the island, with the poets who lived here and those who came to the city.

We must also take into account the phenomena that took place here, such as the «tertulias delmontinas», the significance of 20th century poets like Bonifacio Byrne, Agustín Acosta, José Sacarías Tallet, Dora Alonso, María Villar Buceta, Manuel Navarro Luna, among many others, and those of the contemporary period, among them Digdora Alonso and Carilda Oliver, a movement that continues to this day.

«To add that, in spite of the outstanding variety of works by these personalities, Matanzas publishing houses (Matanzas, Vigía and Aldabón) have not limited their production only to Matanzas writers, not even national ones.

«The catalog of Matanzas Editions, for example, has more than 20 living foreign writers, translated into more than 15 languages, with a tremendous presence in major publishing houses and festivals around the world. The fact that they publish with us is a consequence of the prestige that our publishing houses have deserved.

«We think that this edition 0, which we dedicate to Nancy Morejón, National Literature Prize, to Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés (Plácido), on the 180th anniversary of his execution and to the Palestinian people, will be like the embryo of what is intended to be a great festival in the future,» explains National Publishing Prize winner Alfredo Zaldívar Muñoa, director of Ediciones Matanzas and coordinator of Puentes Poéticos.

See also: https://www.radio26.cu/noticias-de-matanzas/cultura/precisan-programa-del-festival-internacional-de-poesia-puentes-poeticos/

Although it has long existed in the will and dreams of those who love this land in verses, strophic prose, similes, metaphors and sinalefas, Puentes Poéticos came to life with the beauty and depth that are proper to poetry.

«Puentes Poéticos has a double meaning: on the one hand these engineering works that identify the city and on the other hand, our objective is none other than to build bridges from communication, poetry, spirituality, hope», says the poet from Matanzas.

For four days the aroma of good literature will once again reach the Athens of Cuba, taking over every corner, from the central Plaza de la Vigía and the heritage buildings that guard it, to universities, schools, workplaces, public squares, without ever giving up the enriching practice, already daily in this city of rivers and bridges, of merging music, visual art, dance and theater to provide audiences with a memorable experience.

«Víctor Rodríguez Núñez, a Cuban writer who has been living abroad for a long time, is also in Matanzas. He has become a tremendous book manager, one of our main literary agents, since most of the books by great contemporary writers that we have published lately and have assigned their rights, have been thanks to his management.

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«Together with him we are visited by his wife, the North American Katerine Hedeen, an important translator, professor, essayist who has studied the work of Carilda Oliver. The Argentine poet settled in Chile, Daniel Calabrese, is also in Matanzas. Great collaborator of ours also, he has yielded his rights, he has facilitated us dissimilar indispensable materials for the publication of the 20 books that we published in the most recent edition of the Fair of the Book.

«Very significant is the presence of the Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish, now considered the most important poet in the Arab world and it is a tremendous pride to have him here. When he learned that the Festival would be dedicated to Palestine, he immediately accepted the invitation, despite the situation in his country.

«We also wanted our Casa de las Americas Awards to be here, which is the most important international literary contest in Cuba, so we have also invited Luis Lorente from Cardenas; Reynaldo García Blanco, from Santiago de Cuba; Luis Manuel Pérez Boitel, from Villa Clara. Other guest poets are Roberto Mendez, a fervent student of Placido, Yunier Riquenes, Israel Dominguez.»

Poetry floods the streets in an attempt to offer its light to the darkness of everyday life, to sow hope and peace in the souls of the people of Matanzas and visitors, to open a door to human spirituality in its most beautiful expressions.

«We have the experience of the Book Fair, where what sells the most are poetry books and those who buy them the most are young people. That public currently reads a lot digitally, so we are venturing into the publication of virtual texts, without giving up the printed book.

«The purpose is to open the festival to the public, that it is not a poetry reading among poets, but that the population takes part, is a protagonist, that they exchange their books with those in the kiosk or that they can take books in digital format or the printed one signed by the author, even that they bring their poems and share them.

«We are trying with this festival to make up for the need people have to read poetry. We live in very difficult times and I believe that poetry can help us a lot to survive spiritually.»

The celebration reaffirms the city of Matanzas as an important place for this genre in the country. Until June 15th, 45 poets, including foreigners, Cubans and locals, will gather in the Athens of Cuba.

«This is a party organized by the poets to honor the poetry of Cuba, of the world, of yesterday and today. It highlights the patriotic, very Cuban, character of this meeting: celebrating the 80th anniversary of Nancy Morejon in Matanzas has a high significance; the dedication to the people of Palestine speaks of the altruism of our writers and having 45 guest poets who will come to different public spaces is proof of the massive and popular character of the event,» says Efrain Perez Izquierdo, director of the Provincial Center of Books and Literature.

See also: https://www.radio26.cu/noticias-de-matanzas/cultura/presencia-de-nancy-morejon-en-la-editoriales-de-matanzas/

And what is the purpose of poetry, why the determination, in the midst of so many shortages and vicissitudes, to promote and be part of the birth of a poetry festival? Precisely because of the crises that surround us, the economic crisis, the crisis of thought, the crisis of spirituality, this celebration is so important. Those of us who have had the opportunity to visit other International Poetry Festivals have experienced it.

«In a different context, as in Colombia, the rate of violence decreased due to the contribution of your Festival. We need this Festival, which will transform in many ways the sensibility of many decision makers and the population», added the poet editor Leymen Perez.

The birth of the International Poetry Festival of the City of Matanzas has placed the city once again within the cultural panorama of the island, while adding values to the numerous literary charms of the city known as the Athens of Cuba for its eventual recognition as Creative City of Literature.

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Written by Jessica Mesa.