The Library's celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month was marked Sept. 14 by a visit from Cuban writer Roberto Valero.
The standing-room-only crowd gathered in the Library's Pickford Theater to hear Mr. Valero read his poetry, much of which rails against the tyranny in his native land.
Dolores Martin of the Library's Hispanic Division provided background. Mr. Valero was born in Matazas, Cuba, in 1955. He studied at the University of Havana but never graduated because of his anti-goverment leanings. He, and the approximately 10,000 Marielistas, left Cuba in 1980. "This extraorinary figure [Valero] is an example of the Cuban dissident, who, through his own powers of regeneration, was expelled from the country of his birth, and without any means of subsistence whatsoever, managed to become a success in life," said Ms. Martin.
Mr. Valero arrived in Miami and took any job he could get, including waiting on tables. He continued to write poetry and essays based on his experiences. "Even under adversity," said Ms. Martin, "Roberto wrote about the tragedy of Cuba and not only his fellow compatriot's condition but of mankind's predicament in general. He wrote in the most elegant and original fashion."
From Miami, Mr. Valero came to Washington, where he completed his doctorate in Hispanic literature at Georgetown University on full scholarship.
He has published five books of poetry: No estare en tu camino (1991), Venias (1990), Dharma (1985), En fin, la noche (1984) and Desde un oscuro angulo (1982).
Among numerous awards and prizes he has won is the Letras de Oro Literary Prize in 1989. He has traveled extensively in the Americas and Europe and lectured at several universities. He currently teaches Spanish American literature at George Washington University and is working on a novel and three books of poems.
His Library audience of students, writers, educators and staff was wholly absorbed by Mr. Valero's language -- both serious and funny. Also in attendance were Cuban essayist Emilio Bernal Labrada and Argentine poet Luis Alberto Ambroggio. Translating his poems from Spanish to English was his wife, Maria Badias, a painter and mother of the Valeros' two daughters.
Mr. Valero read an excerpt of his epic poem "...pero nadie sabe su nombre ("... But No One Knows His Name"). This monumental work describes man's dialogue with the gods. Mr. Valero, describing this work, said, "We all live with the myth-ending apocalypse, and we are all believers in some sort of god ... or something of heroic proportions outside ourselves."
One of Valero's fictitious gods, Terminus, makes an appearance as the god of death in his poem. "We both beseech and placate the gods we create or are given us by our heritage," he said. "This epic work has involved much research, as it explores the fundamental ideas about God, love, creation, etc., using as a framework the mythologies of all cultures. ... Similarities in ideas and beliefs among the various cultures are emphasized. Everything is scrambled, contemporary philosophers, myths and authors appear alongside sacred snakes, Isis or Thor."
