MADRID, Spain.- The poet Delfín Prats, one of the great Cuban writers, was assaulted this Wednesday at his home in Holguín, where he lives in poverty, forgotten by the island’s cultural authorities. The complaint about the theft was made by his friend and also a poet, Ghabriel Pérez.
“Today I was in my old childhood neighborhoods. This is the post that I always wanted to avoid. After the concern that my photo with Delfín Prats caused yesterday, today I went to his house. (…) There I saw the broken padlock”, Explain Perez.
“According to what he told me, with fear in his eyes and a trembling voice, they brought him the backpack that they had bought for him at the Book Center. His big concern is that they tried to take the computer. But he prevented it with his screams, ”she recounted.
Gabriel Pérez stressed that Prats needs “urgent attention!”, and that “it is necessary that friends and cultural institutions take action on the matter.”
Pérez had previously shared a Photo next to Prats, from a month before, the day they met and the poet had not had breakfast. The publication, which was accompanied by Prats’s poem “Humanity”, explains: “The greatest poet of Holguín; a man who is too lonely. A man who already needs a lot of care from others.
As he refers: “I bring it up to tell you that when you find him on the streets of the city, know that in front of you there is a legend, a walking encyclopedia, the man who wrote some of the best poetry of a continent. And think about what you can do to make his day better.”
Delfín Prats was censored at the end of the 60s, for his book Language of the dumb. After receiving the David Award, the book was collected and destroyed by the authorities. In 1971 he was sent to a UMAP camp for being homosexual.
He did not publish again in Cuba until 1987, the year in which he appeared To celebrate the rise of Icarus, winner of the National Critics Award.
Part of Prats’ history appears reflected in the film Santa and Andrewalso censored by the regime, by director Carlos Lechuga.
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