The complaint of numerous intellectuals headed by Cuban Jacobo Machover against Nancy Morejón has achieved its goal: the organizers of the Paris Poetry Market, a prestigious literary event held annually since 1983 in the French capital, will withdraw to the official writer her status as honorary president, although she will continue to be invited to the festival.
This Tuesday, Machover released a letter sent by Yves Boudier and Vincent Gimeno-Pons, general delegates of the c/i/r/c/é association, which organizes the Poetry Market, to Antoine Spire, president of the Pen Club de escritores de Francia, one of the organizations that supported the protest against Morejón.
In addition to notifying their intention to “resign” from offering the poet the honor of presiding over the festival, the organizers apologized for “not having delved” into her biography and announced that there is an “official statement” in preparation. As of now, the file indicating the presidency of Morejón is not available in the Web page of the festival.
According to Radio Havana Cuba, Morejón will be in France and Spain from June 1 to 13, presenting various titles. As for the Poetry Market, they announce that the writer will participate in a recital at the headquarters of the Instituto Cervantes in Paris, on the 9th, but they omit any mention of the honorary presidency.
In addition to notifying their intention to “resign” from offering the poet the honor of presiding over the festival, the organizers apologized for “not having delved” into her biography
This Tuesday, Machover thanked to those who joined their protest. Morejón, Spire wrote on behalf of the Pen Club of France to the directors of the event, “stigmatizes many of those who have taken sides against the Cuban government in the name of freedom of expression,” and recalled the existence of multiple censored artists and writers by the also director of the official magazine Union. Lastly, he urged organizers to investigate Morejón’s life and his record of supporting the regime.
On May 25, Machover criticized the gift of the Poetry Market to Morejón and described as “delusional” that this honor was granted to a writer who supports an authoritarian regime like the Cuban one.
“I demand that this error be corrected and that the honorary title that has been improperly attributed to the poet Nancy Morejón be withdrawn. This act would contribute to the freedom of Cuba and, of course, of its poetry and literature, which constitute the common heritage of all writers and poets throughout the world,” he said. In the days that followed, dozens of writers, artists, activists, and journalists joined the claim.
In his open letter to the organizers, Machover pointed out that Morejón is aligned with “the prevailing dictatorial regime in Cuba” and is part of its “cultural authorities” in the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac). Precisely as part of that institution, Morejón has been signatories of several documents of adherence to the regime, the most recent of them, Machover recalled, is the Message from Cuban educators, journalists, writers, artists and scientists to their colleagues in other countriessigned in October 2022, and in which the poet’s signature appears in sixth place.
In that text, he expressed his full support for the Government, in addition to alleging the non-existence of repression by the authorities, a situation described as “distortion of our reality.”
In that text, he expressed his full support for the Government, in addition to alleging the non-existence of repression by the authorities, a situation described as “distortion of our reality.”
Another of the letters that the poet signed twenty years ago, Machover affirmed, was the one that justified the arrest and sentencing of 75 dissidents, several of them writers, during the Black Spring of 2003. Among them was the poet Raúl Rivero, whom Machover has translated and published in French. In addition, the document destined for the “peoples of the world” validated the execution of three young people who had tried to escape from Cuba by kidnapping the “little boat” from the Havana town of Regla.
One day after the protests of July 11, 2021, the Ministry of Culture made several intellectuals appear on Cuban Television to insult the protesters. Morejón then said: “These events of yesterday, unacceptable, condemnable in every sense, are part of an old pandemic as terrible as this one that plagues us (covid-19): that of the empire.”
Held from June 7 to 12 in the Saint-Sulpice square in the French capital, the Poetry Market had an opening ceremony by Morejón, as well as various panels and conferences. At the moment, Uneac has not ruled on the festival’s decision either.
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