The Indelible Legacy of Poet and Journalist Nicolás Guillén.

This July 16th marks the culmination of the Homage to our National Poet, Nicolás Guillén, on the 35th anniversary of his death.

This July 16 marks the culmination of the Homage Day to our National Poet, Nicolás Guillén, on the 35th anniversary of his death. It began on July 10th, on the occasion of his birthday.

The purpose of this important event was to keep alive the literary and social legacy of the writer and journalist, as well as to take his work to different areas of the country.

Biographical notes

Nicolás Guillén Batista, considered the greatest exponent of Afro-Cuban poetry, was born on July 10th, in Camagüey, in 1902. He began publishing his verses at the age of 18, in magazines such as Camagüey Gráfico and Orto, in the city of Manzanillo.

Also in 1922 he began studying law at the University of Havana, whose classrooms he abandoned, driven by the disenchantment expressed in the poem «Al margen de mis libros de estudio» (On the margins of my study books). The text, published in the inaugural issue of the Alma Mater magazine, whose board of directors included Julio Antonio Mella, was notoriously controversial at the time.

When he returned to Camagüey, he edited the magazine Lys, and held various jobs, including proofreader, and then editor of the newspaper El Camagüeyano.

He returns to Havana and becomes acquainted with Fernando Ortiz. He meets Federico García Lorca. His monumental creation, which would lead him to achieve the international recognition of illustrious writers, burst with his famous book «Motivos de son», in 1930.

This essential volume is followed by works of an extraordinary connotation, to mention the most relevant, in the 30’s, «West Indies, Ltd.», «Cantos para soldados y sones para turistas», with a prologue by Juan Marinello.

He also published in Mexico his text «España. Poem in four anguishes and a hope». In 1937, in the middle of the civil war, he travels to that country to participate in the II International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture. He joined the Communist Party of Cuba, where he would remain a militant until his death.

In the 40’s and 50’s he writes in important newspapers and magazines. His notebooks appear: «El son entero» and «Elegía a Jesús Menéndez», a tribute to the Cuban worker leader with whom he had maintained a close friendship.

Participates in the World Peace Council in Prague and Vienna. Travels to the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China and Mongolia. In Cuba he publishes «Las coplas de Juan Descalzo» and «Elegía cubana».

Following the triumph of the Revolution, he writes his sonnet «Che Guevara» for the weekly Propósitos. It is followed by the texts «Poemas de amor», «Tengo», «Antología mayor»; and «El gran zoo».

The best known poem dedicated to Ernesto Guevara was «Che Comandante», which he read, precisely, on October 18th, 1967 at the José Martí Revolution Square, in Havana. In 1969 his «Cuatro canciones para el Che», who had died in Bolivia two years earlier, is heard. In 1972 he publishes «La rueda dentada» and «Diario que a diario».

The first volume of his «Obras Completas» was published and he was awarded the Viareggio Prize in Rome.

It was in 1983 that he received the National Prize of Literature in Cuba, and since then there have been editions of his works and new compilations of texts, such as «Todas las flores de abril», plus the chronicles «América. Sueña y fulgura», «En ala de nuestro tiempo» and «Al alcance del sueño».

Presence of Guillén in Matanzas

The National Poet Nicolás Guillén was assiduous, in the 80’s of the last century, to diverse literary events summoned by the branch of the UNEAC in Matanzas. Above all, he liked to accompany the poet Carilda Oliver Labra. The main scenario was the Tirry 81 house and the Junco Palace Museum.

The own Carilda considered him an honest and admired friend, late night in poetic gatherings yumurinas and expert in lyrical lides, besides his gifts like leader, of singular brightness.

Nicolás Guillén has been a leading figure of Cuban and Spanish-speaking poetry throughout time. At present, several of his poems have been set to music by prestigious national and foreign figures.

He met renowned intellectuals from Latin America and Europe, whom he involved with the ideals of the Cuban revolutionary process.

The writer and ethnologist Miguel Barnet has expressed: «Guillén was a man of very advanced ideas, of the left and he established the platform of principles that govern UNEAC».

The Guilleniana Jornada was organized by the Nicolás Guillén Foundation and its affiliates, with the support of UNEAC and other institutions.

Written by María Elena Bayón.