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Introduction
Kristin Dykstra
Seven
Cuban poets gathered to read their work on June 18, 2001, at
Reina María Rodríguez and Jorge Miralles’
rooftop apartment in Havana. I recorded selected poems during
the reading, which we present here with the poets’ permission.
They provided me with biographical information and allowed me
to take photographs for the project.
These
seven poets represent great diversity in not just generations
or personalities but also in their visions of language. Rather
than give an overview of their work here, which you can listen
to for yourself by clicking on the poem listings, I’d like
to briefly discuss something harder to see or hear at this website:
the place and time of the reading itself.
The
apartment is known as "la azotea de Reina," or "Reina’s
rooftop." As a culturally inflected space, the azotea has
had many different potential meanings since its construction
in the 1980s. It is both a private family home and a space that
Rodríguez and Miralles open to other intellectuals as
a literary salon. Many rooftop events and informal activities
have been created by, about, and for local artists and writers.
Other events foster short- or long-term connections with intellectuals
of all kinds from around the world.
In
this introduction, I want to make the point that the azotea
does not have a history as an art-making or art-sharing space
that can be written in a linear fashion--even if we have to
try to write these kinds of unified stories in order to comprehend
a little of its meaning. We could center our storytelling on
Reina herself as a writer, on the life she has shared with Jorge
Miralles and her family members at the azotea, on the changing
fortunes of the many Cuban intellectuals who have gathered at
the azotea in the past, or on some other important image.
Looking
for one kind of story or logic to explain its many and multidirectional
branches, its dead ends, overlaps and inconsistencies, may be
useful on some level . . . but the product of that search seems
destined to be inaccurate. Instead I will briefly describe the
azotea in terms of its genealogy, in a Foucauldian sense.
Some
ideals associated with the azotea: To lead to better thinking,
better writing, better art. To provide a challenge. To provide
an alternative space to official cultural institutions. And
Reina says that she has always wanted the space to be non-hierarchical,
which is not just about relations among different people at
the azotea, but about mentally arranging the world: art/writing/intellect
need not be forcibly separated from one’s daily, domestic
life.
We
can spot certain roots or branches that wander out from the
"center" of the azotea’s identity (be that center
a person or a place). Many former participants now live in Mexico,
Spain, New York, Miami, Venezuela, or somewhere else, just somewhere
not in Havana. A variation: after working together at the azotea,
some people started their own new projects, like Diásporas,
which involves both exiles and people still living and working
on the island.
Another
point: many people who have participated in events at the azotea
would not define it as an origin or even a space central to
their own work. Instead: intertwined roots and branches from
other places, other systems, other ways of doing and thinking.
As
for the 6/18/01 reading itself, what might one make of it as
an event?
As
usual, there were many writers present to hear the readings,
several dear friends, and lots of friends of friends, most needing
identification only by their first or last names in accordance
with good Havana style.
Yet
it was an event which to some might seem impure, since it was
partly organized by outsiders visiting Havana. In fact, some
audience members were students, some professors, skirting a
boundary that is often felt to be problematic: is writing still
somehow organic, "real," spontaneous, meaningful when
presented in an academic setting? What kinds of problems of
authority and hierarchy are created by such activities?
We
can also consider the reading from another perspective: all
seven poets had previously participated in the January 2001
cultural festival, "Encounter: First Festival of Language
Poetry," held at the Cuban Book Institute/House of Letters
on the Plaza de Armas. The festival promoted international dialogue
and translation. Poet and translator Rosa Alcalá took
part in this festival, which is part of the reason that she
and Dr. José Buscaglia, both from the State University
of New York at Buffalo, asked these poets to give the June 2001
reading at the azotea. Alcalá and Buscaglia were responding
to both ideals and practical benefits of that festival organized
by Rodríguez and other Cubans who continue to actively
write, converse, and struggle to produce new and exciting work.
Like many writers, they see not just isolated contemplation
but different kinds of dialogue as crucial to the development
of good thinking and writing.
Physically,
the azotea continues to morph over time. Newly renovated in
2001 to meet changing family needs, the apartment has a smaller
open-air terrace for readings and parties than in the past.
The
family cats continue to roam and yowl and preen and sulk in
corners and under chairs.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
I
would like to thank Dr. Dennis Tedlock, the McNulty Chair (Department
of English) and the Center for the Americas at the State University
of New York at Buffalo for funding that made my work on this
project possible.
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