Luis de Jesús Suardíaz Rivero

Journalist, poet, critic, essayist and Cuban editor. Author of about twenty titles in various genres. National Journalism Prize winner.

Luis Suardíaz was born on February 5, 1936 in the city of Camagüey. Interested in literature from a very young age, he participated in the activities of the groups "Los nuevos" and "Tiempo nuevo" in his native city. His first poems were made known by the prominent intellectual Samuel Feijóo in Collection of Poets of the City of Camagüey, an anthology published in 1958, in which the young poet shared pages with figures such as Rolando Escardó, Raúl Luis and Severo Sarduy.

He began his journalism career collaborating in El Camagüeyano. He also ventured into Channel 11 of local television, and in radio stations in the city.

He participated in the clandestine struggle against the tyranny of Fulgencio Batista, collaborating with the Revolutionary Movement 26 of July and the Revolutionary Directorate 13 of March. After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, he graduated as a Bachelor of Social Sciences and developed his journalistic work for more than four decades, simultaneously with literature and cultural direction work.

In his native city, he served in 1959 as co-director of the newspaper Orientación Revolucionaria, and also as vice-director of the Sunday page of Adelante (1960). From 1960 to 1962 he served as provincial coordinator of Culture in the province of Camagüey. In these roles, he participated in the organization of the First National Meeting of Poets, held there in 1960.

He was one of the creators of the group "Novación Literaria", whose means of expression was the newspaper Prensa Libre, in which he was responsible for the cultural page between 1960 and 1961. In this last year he joined the Revolutionary Journalists Front. Subsequently, he was a founder of the Union of Journalists of Cuba and of the Communist Party of Cuba.

He served as a teacher of English language, and also of Marxist philosophy at the School of Cadres of the National Council of Culture (CNC). In the general direction of that organization, he managed the Literature and Publications area. In this activity he was a member, from 1963 to 1967, of the Editorial Board of the National Publishing House of Cuba, then directed by Alejo Carpentier.

He was part of the delegation that represented Cuba at the international exhibition EXPO-67, held in Canada, where Cuba had a pavilion. Between 1967 and 1972 he worked as Cultural Adviser, first at the Cuban embassy in Ottawa (Canada) and later in Moscow (Soviet Union). In this last stage he collaborated in numerous Soviet and Eastern European publications.

Between 1973 and 1977 he was director of the National Library of Cuba and of that institution's main publication, the Journal of the National Library.

He was first vice-president of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) from 1977 to 1981, and collaborated in its publications such as Unión and La Gaceta de Cuba. He also served on the editorial board of the journal Revolution and Culture. In 1982 he joined the editorial staff of the newspaper Granma, where he worked in the cultural section. He was also editorial director of Patria, a publication attached to Granma and edited from 1988, which ceased in the following decade.

He headed the Political Publishing House from 1981 to 1985. Subsequently, and until 1988, he served as vice-president of Prensa Latina and as director of two of the journals published by the agency, Prisma Latinoamericano and Cuba Internacional. Since 2003 he was Head of Culture and History Editor of the journal Bohemia.

Throughout his extensive journalistic career he collaborated in other publications, such as Islas, Ciclón, Diario Libre, Diario Nacional, Revolución, Lunes de Revolución, El Mundo, Mujeres, Verde Olivo, Cultura'64, Juventud Rebelde, Casa de las Américas, El Caimán Barbudo, Universidad de La Habana, Santiago, Enigma, Letras Cubanas, Trabajadores, Tribuna de la Habana, Sierra Maestra, Vanguardia, and Mar y Pesca.

He also collaborated in press media of Latin America, such as the Mexican publications Plural, Pájaro Cascabel, El Corno Emplumado, Excelsior, El Nacional, Cuadernos Americanos, and Parra. In Panama, he wrote for Lotería; in Colombia, Argumentos; in El Salvador, Abra; in Venezuela, Diario Nacional, Últimas Noticias, Imagen, Revista Nacional de Cultura, El Vigilante, and Actual; in Chile, El Siglo, and in Peru, La Voz, Altavoz and Caballo Rojo.

The poetry of Luis Suardíaz has been translated into numerous languages, and collected in various anthologies, published in Cuba and abroad: Poetry for the 26 (1962), Modern Poetry in Cuba (1967), Poem to Che (1969), Poetry of the Cuban Revolution (1973), Combat Poetry (1975), The Palm Says (1979), Cuban Love Poetry (1983), Poetry for Victory (1981), El Salvador in Arms (1984) and Rebel is Sea and Dream (1988).

Among his numerous titles, the following stand out: Like One Returning from a Long Journey (1975), Legend of Just Beauty (1978), All That Has an End is Brief (1983), There Will Always Be Poetry (1983), Time to Live (1988), These Are My Sacred Writings (1988), An Instant That Sustains All the Light (1988), New Class Notebooks (1989), and Wet Paper (1991).

Among his essays, it is worth highlighting To Reach The Great Zoo (2002), about the poetic work of Nicolás Guillén. He was co-author, along with Heberto Padilla, of the prologue to the anthology Cuban Poetry 1959-66 (1967). In his extensive work in the preparation of anthologies, he was in charge of the selection of The Generation of the 1950s (1984), of Assault on Heaven (1975, in collaboration), prepared a compilation of Walt Whitman's work (1966), and the Orbit of Rolando Escardó (1981).

He taught courses and gave lectures in about twenty Latin American and European countries. On the other hand, he wrote and directed informational programs for television, and carried out translations from English and versions from Russian.

The literary work of Luis Suardíaz has received various distinctions. His first book, Having Lived, received an honorable mention for poetry in the Casa de las Américas contest in 1966. In 1984 he received the prize in the National Literary Criticism Contest Mirta Aguirre, in the article category, with his work "Three Poets of the Revolution", which was published in the journal Unión. In 1985 he won the aforementioned prize again, with the article "The Horse and Its Shadow". I'm Going to Speak of Hope (1993) was a winner of the July 26 Poetry Prize. He received the National Prize for Cultural Journalism José Antonio Fernández de Castro on March 21, 2003. Days before his death on March 7, 2005, he was awarded the National Prize for Journalism José Martí, for a lifetime of work. The University of Camagüey awarded him the post mortem title of Doctor Honoris Causa on February 5, 2006, on the seventieth anniversary of his birth. Among the numerous recognitions he received, the Medal for National Culture, the Juan Marinello Order and the Replica of Máximo Gómez's Machete stand out.

The Union of Journalists of Cuba and the Ministry of Culture convoke annually the Luis Suardíaz National Prize for Cultural Journalism, in honor of the memory of such a distinguished intellectual, and in the city of Camagüey a literary workshop bears his name.

Bibliography

Active Bibliography

Having Lived, Unión Editions, Havana, 1966.

Like One Returning from a Long Journey, UNEAC, Havana, 1975.

"Summary of his remarks as head of the Cuban delegation to the events of Carifiesta 76 held in Kingston, Jamaica, on August 3, 1976"; in Granma, August 4, 1976.

Legend of Just Beauty, Letras Cubanas Publishing, Havana, 1978.

All That Has an End is Brief, Letras Cubanas Publishing, Havana, 1983.

There Will Always Be Poetry, UNEAC, Havana, 1983.

"Agony of Alexander Sergueivich Pushkin"; in Journal of the National Library José Martí, Havana, January-April 1983.

The Generation of the 1950s: Poetic Anthology. Selection by Luis Suardíaz and David Chericián, Letras Cubanas Publishing, Havana, 1984.

Time to Live, Factor Publishing, Mexico City, 1988.

These Are My Sacred Writings, Publishing of the Rectory of the University of the Andes, Mérida, 1988.

An Instant That Sustains All the Light, University of Carabobo, Valencia, 1988.

New Class Notebooks, Letras Cubanas Publishing, Havana, 1989.

"A Window Open to Our Time"; in Granma, March 2, 1990.

Wet Paper, Unión Editions, Havana, 1991.

Explorations, Ácana Publishing, Camagüey, 1992.

The Multiple Face of León Greiff, Art and Literature Publishing, Havana, 1995.

Inactive Bibliography

Álvarez, Luis: "Luis Suardíaz. There Will Always Be Poetry"; in University of Havana, September-December 1984.

Blanco, Katiuska: "Suardíaz"; in Juventud Rebelde, March 26, 2005.

Bueno, Salvador: "This Poet of Today's Times"; in Granma, May 5, 1986.

Braguinskaia, Ella: "Tribute to Cuban Poet Luis Suardíaz"; in Soviet Literature, Moscow, 1972.

López, César: "Notes on the Poetry of Luis Suardíaz"; in Unión, April-June 1967.

López Morales, E: "All That Has an End is Brief"; in Letras Cubanas, July-September 1986.

Nogueras, Luis R.: "Debit and Credit"; in Casa de las Américas, January-February 1968.

Orrillo, Winston: "Luis Suardíaz: Poetry and Circumstance"; in Nueva Gaceta, no.9, Havana, 1986.

______________: "Suardíaz: A Long and Difficult Journey Toward Poetry"; in Revolution and Culture, Havana, December 1976.

Selva, Mauricio de la: "Luis Suardíaz, Having Lived"; in Cuadernos Americanos, Mexico, September-October 1967.

Source: EnCaribe.org