The indelible alliance of Ulises Rodríguez Febles and Ediciones Vigía.

Ulises exalted his mother and family of peasant origin, in an inspiring place like Guamacaro, in a house where there was no lack of classic books and a radio program with novels, adventures and music, which filled the spaces and the minds of those who lived in that area.

For Ulises Rodriguez Febles Ediciones Vigia is his literary cradle, for Vigia, which celebrates its 40th anniversary, Ulises is a faithful son who does not forget. Both receive the homage of the city in this 33rd International Book Fair in Matanzas.

There, the playwright and storyteller published his first book El señor de las tijeras and his first play La ventana tejida, multi-awarded in its staging by Teatro Icarón. And as a loyal mother, the publishing house wanted to pay tribute to the promoter and director of the Casa de la Memoria Escénica with surprises, some of them reminiscent of those beginnings.

The inaugural gift of Agustina Ponce, director of Vigía, in presenting this meeting and its significance, was the performance of clarinetist Isabel Rodríguez Tamayo, followed by the presence of one of her colleagues from the Pedagógico in those years, the renowned poet Gaudencio Rodríguez, and the performance of the young people from the theater group Trébol Gitano, attached to El Mirón Cubano, in a dramatic reading of their play Don Juan tras la pared.

A special gift was the attendance of his university professor Ana Elis Machín, who valued «the gift of people», his pleasant and smiling manners that have always adorned him, as she was born in Cardenas, very young in those decades and symbol of a generation that became an outstanding exponent of the national literature.

Ulises thanked these gestures and also exalted his mother and family of peasant origin, in an inspiring place like Guamacaro, in a house where there was no lack of classic books, published by Ediciones Huracán and a radio program with novels, adventures and music, which filled the spaces and the minds of those who lived in that area.

What can we say about the praise he gave to Ediciones Vigía and its unwavering challenge of 40 years in the face of the country’s unstable times, with the utmost respect for beauty and good literature.

Institutions and personalities, summoned by Agustina, entertained the writer Ulises Rodríguez Febles, among them the Pharmaceutical Museum, Teatro de Las Estaciones, Adrián Gómez Sancho and the workers of the prestigious publishing house.

Written by María Elena Bayón.