Nancy Morejón Hernández

At eighteen years old (1962), she was included in the anthology Novísima poesía cubana and published her first book of poems, Mutismos.

She holds a degree in French Language and Literature from the University of La Habana, in 1966. She worked as a French translator, translating the work of Molière, Aimé Césaire, Romain Rolland, René Depestre, as well as The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.

In 1989 she attended as guest of honor the 54th World Congress of the International PEN Club in Toronto and Montreal.

In 1992 she was invited by the South African National Congress of Writers (COSAW) and traveled throughout the South African Republic, where she gave recitals and literary workshops.

She attended as guest of honor the III Conference of Caribbean Writers, held in Curaçao; as well as the V Edition of CARIFESTA in Trinidad-Tobago.

Between 1986 and 1993 she served as director of the Center for Caribbean Studies of Casa de las Américas, a position she resumed in the year 2000.

She directed the Editorial PM of the Pablo Milanés Foundation from 1993 to 1995. She served as Advisor to the Directorate of the National Theater of Cuba from 1995 to 2000.

In 1991 she was elected Member of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. She has given lectures at institutions throughout Europe and America. Among her works are: Richard Brought His Flute and Other Arguments, Nation and Mestizaje in Nicolás Guillén, Polished Stone, Famous Landscape. Poems 1987-1992.

She has received numerous awards including: Rubén Martínez Villena Poetry Prize from the University of La Habana, Recognition from the National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists, Enrique José Varona National Essay Prize, Recognition in the International Poetry Prize "Pérez Bonalde". Literary Criticism Prize for: Polished Stone, 1986. Praise and Landscape, 1996. National Literature Prize 2001.

She is one of the most important voices in contemporary Cuban poetry, having received significant recognition both within and outside our continent. A translator and essayist as well, she has achieved an invaluable prestige devoting herself to the study of the work of Nicolás Guillén and Caribbean literatures.

Her poetic work includes more than twenty titles among which stand out: Where the Island Sleeps Like Wing (bilingual anthology, 1985); Polished Stone (1986); Bottle to the Sea (anthology, 1997), Richard Brought His Flute and Other Poems (2000), the latter selected and with a prologue by Mario Benedetti for the Visor publishing house of Madrid. Also notable are Rapid Rope (2002), from Editorial Letras Cubanas, Looking Within / Mirar adentro (2003), from Wayne State University of Detroit, Michigan with introduction, selection and notes by Juanamaría Cordones-Cook, as well as the Poetic Anthology (1962-2000) with selection and prologue by Gerardo Fulleda León, published by the Monteávila publishing house of Caracas (2006). Polished Stone, Praise and Landscape and The Mill's Estate were awarded the Literary Criticism Prize in 1986, 1997 and 2000, respectively.

Permanent member of the Jury of the Carbet Caribbean Prize. National Literature Prize 2001.

New York University conferred upon her the Yari-Yari Prize for Contemporary Poetry for her body of work in 2004. In August 2006, during the VI edition of the Poetry Nights Festival, she received the Golden Crown Prize of Struga 2006 of Macedonia, already proclaimed on March 21, 2006, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, for World Poetry Day.

In May 2007, within the framework of the XII International Poetry Festival of La Habana, she received the Rafael Alberti Prize. Throughout her professional career she has received countless national and foreign awards and honors, among which stand out the Insignias of Officer of the Order of Merit of the French Republic and a replica of Máximo Gómez's Machete, among others.

Full member of the Cuban Academy of Language since 1999. She currently serves as advisor to Casa de las Américas.

Chronology
1962 Publishes the book of poems, Mutismos.
1964 Publishes the book of poems, Love, Attributed City.
1966 Graduates in French Language and Literature from the University of La Habana. Her thesis addressed the work of the great Martinique poet Aimé Césaire, whose theatrical piece A Season in the Congo she translated in collaboration with Peruvian Juan Larco for a production by director Roberto Blanco.
1967 Her book of poems Richard Brought His Flute and Other Arguments is published.
1971 Her book of research and essays Bird Language, Real Commentaries becomes known.
1972 She compiles texts about Nicolás Guillén from the Multiple Valuation series of Casa de las Américas.
1979 The poetry collection Sites of an Era is published by Editorial Letras Cubanas.
She translates the book Daily Weapons by Paul Laraque which is published by Casa de las Américas publishing house.
1980 Poems is published with selection and prologue by Mexican poet Efraín Huerta. She obtains the National Essay Prize "Enrique José Varona" from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba with her book Nation and Mestizaje in Nicolás Guillén.
1982 Her book of poems, Necessary October becomes known.
UNAM publishes the book Praise of Dance. The book about Nicolás Guillén previously announced is published. She creates versions of the theatrical pieces The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare and The Bourgeois Gentleman by Molière for productions by Cuban Vicente Revuelta and Uruguayan Sara Larocca at the International Theater Festival of La Habana.
1983 She obtains the "Mirta Aguirre" Prize with the book Nation and Mestizaje in Nicolás Guillén.
1984 Another poetry book is published, Granada Notebook, whose English translation came out that same year under the title Grenada Notebook, translated by Lisa Davis, New York, ed. Círculo de Cultura Cubana.
1985 The Black Scholar Press publishing house of California published the bilingual anthology, Where the Island Sleeps Like A Wing, translated by Kathleen Weaver. The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper selected this volume as one of the ten best poetry books of that year. The Poems anthology appears from the Center for Cuban Studies publishing house.
1986 The book Polished Stone which appeared this year was awarded the Literary Criticism Prize in Cuba.
1988 The book Foundation of the Image appears which brings together various studies on Cuban, Caribbean and Hispanic American figures from the 19th and 20th centuries.
1990 The Caribbean Institute of the University of West Indies, Mona, Kingston, published a brief anthology of his poems translated into English by professor Joe Pereira with the title, Ours the Earth.
1991 Translated into French by Sandra Monet-Descombet, a selection of her poems appeared in Paris with the title Le Chaînon Poétique. She translates Whirlwind of Free Words by Ernest Pépin, published by Casa de las Américas. Ediciones Unión published her notebook Ballads for a Dream.
1993 The Fundarte publishing house of Venezuela published her book Famous Landscape. Her Poems of Love and Death are edited, ed. Revista Caravelle, Toulouse.
1996 The Oliphante publishing house of Zaragoza compiled an anthology of her poetic work under the title Bottle to the Sea. The anthology The River of Martín Pérez Poe appears, Vigía Editions of Matanzas. She translates the book Rainbow, Hope of Nicole Cage Florentiny, published by Casa de las Américas.
1997 Ediciones Unión compiled two of her poetry collections under the name of Praise and Landscape, which deserved the Literary Criticism Prize of that year.
1998 The notebook Divertimento and Other Poems appeared, Madrid-La Habana. She translates Annals by Édouard Glissant for Vigía editions of Matanzas.
1999 Howard University of Washington D.C. published a volume of critical studies about her work under the title Singular Like A Bird: The Art of Nancy Morejón. The Visor publishing house of Madrid recently published the anthology Richard Brought His Flute and Other Poems, whose edition was prepared by Mario Benedetti.
2000 Editorial Letras Cubanas published her poetry collection The Mill's Estate.
2001 The German version of her poetry collection Famous Landscape is presented at the Berlin International Book Fair. In July she attends the presentation of Black Woman and Other Poems, a bilingual anthology of her poems. She translates Annals and Other Poems by Édouard Glissant for Casa de las Américas publishing house. She receives the National Literature Prize.
2004 Yari-Yari Prize for Contemporary Poetry for her body of work, New York University.
2006 Golden Crown Prize of Struga, Macedonia.
2007 Rafael Alberti Merello Prize.
2008 International Prize from the Association of Galician Writers.

Poetic Works
Mutismos: ed. El Puente, La Habana, 1962.
Amor, ciudad atribuida: ed. El Puente, La Habana, 1964.
Richard trajo su flauta y otros argumentos: col. Cuadernos, ed. Unión, La Habana, 1967.
Parajes de una época: col. Mínima, ed. Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 1979.
Poems (Anthology): Selection and prologue by Efraín Huerta, Cover illustration Wifredo Lam, ed. National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico D.F., 1980.
Necessary October: col. Contemporáneos, ed. Unión, La Habana, 1982.
Praise of Dance: col. Poetry Notebooks, ed. National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico D.F., 1982.
Granada Notebook: ed. Casa de las Américas, La Habana, 1984.
Grenada Notebook: Translation by Lisa Davis, ed. Círculo de Cultura Cubana, New York, 1984.
Where the Island Sleeps Like a Wing (Bilingual Anthology): Translation, Selection and Introduction by Kathleen Weaver, Prologue by Miguel Barnet, ed. The Black Scholar Press, San Francisco, California, 1985.
Poems (Anthology): Selection by Sandra Levinson, ed. Center for Cuban Studies, New York, 1985.
Polished Stone: col. Giraldilla, ed. Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 1986. Literary Criticism Prize 1986.
Ours the Earth (Anthology): Translation, selection and prologue by Joe Pereira, ed. Caribbean Institute of the University of West Indies (UWI), Kingston, Jamaica, 1990.
Ballads for a Dream: col. Ciclos, ed. Unión, La Habana, 1991.
Poems of Love and Death: ed. Revista Caravelle (offprint), Toulouse, 1993.
Famous Landscape: ed. Fondo Editorial Fundarte, Caracas, 1993.
Le Chaînon Poétique: Translation by Sandra Monet-Descombey, Cover illustration by Dominican painter José Castillo. Preface by Delia Blanco and Pilar Paliès, ed. Médiathèque Champigny-sur-Marne, Paris, 1994.
The River of Martín Pérez (Anthology): Illustrations by painter Rolando Estévez, col. Classics of San Juan, ed. Vigía, Matanzas, 1996.
Bottle to the Sea (Anthology): Selection and prologue by Adolfo Ayuso, col. Poetry, ed. Oliphante, Zaragoza, 1996.
Praise and Landscape: Illustrations by the author, col. The Gear Wheel, ed. Unión, La Habana, 1997. Literary Criticism Prize 1997.
Richard Brought His Flute and Other Poems: Selection and prologue by Mario Benedetti, ed. Visor, Madrid, 1999.
The Mill's Estate: Illustrations by Reynaldo González, 135 pp, col. Cemí, 2000, ed. Letras Cubanas, La Habana. Literary Criticism Prize 2000.
Ruhmreiche Landschaft (Famous Landscape): Poems, Cover motifs and drawings: Nancy Morejón, 82 pp, Translation and afterword: Ineke Phaf-Rheinberger, Coleba Verlag, Triesen, 2001.
Black Woman and Other Poems (Bilingual edition): Translated, annotated and introduced by Jean Andrews, Cover Artwork by the author, 244 pp, ed. Mango Publishing, London, 2001.
Rapid Rope, 2002.
Looking Within / Mirar adentro, 2003.
Nancy Morejón. Poetic Anthology (1962-2000).
Wild Coals, 2006.

Essays
Compilation of texts about Nicolás Guillén: Selection, prologue and notes by N.M., 429 pp, Multiple Valuation Series, ed. Casa de las Américas, La Habana, 1972.
Nation and Mestizaje in Nicolás Guillén: 332 pp, col. Prize, ed. Unión, La Habana, 1982.
Foundation of the Image: 294 pp, col. Giraldilla, ed. Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 1988.

Translated Books
Paul Laraque: Daily Weapons, col. Prize, ed. Casa de las Américas, La Habana, 1979.
Nicole Cage Florentiny: Rainbow, Hope, col. Prize, ed. Casa de las Américas, La Habana, 1996.
Ernest Pépin: Whirlwind of Free Words, col. Prize, ed. Casa de las Américas, La Habana, 1991.
Édouard Glissant: Annals, Vigía Editions, Matanzas, 1998.
Édouard Glissant: Annals and Other Poems, col. Handrails, ed. Casa de las Américas, La Habana, 2001.

Events, Recitals and Lectures
1979 Participates in the International Poetry Festival "Alexander Pushkin" in the Soviet Union. International Conference "Breaking Barriers", sponsored by the Inter-American University of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1982 International Colloquium on the work of Nicolás Guillén in Leiden, Holland. International Book Fair of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Reading of her poems at St. Catherine's College of the University of Oxford.
1984 Meeting of Latin American Women Writers sponsored by FEM Magazine. Caribbean Meeting sponsored by various educational institutions, including the Inter-American University and the University of Río Piedras in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1987 Congress of Writers Against Apartheid. Colloquium on Nicolás Guillén, Bordeaux, France.
1988 Latin American World Poetry Festival and the Cervantes Festival in Mexico.
1990 Participates in the Buenos Aires Book Fair. International Colloquium "Seeds of Commerce", sponsored by the Caribbean House of Santiago de Cuba.
1991 Participated in the summer courses of the Complutense University of Madrid at El Escorial, reading her poems in the course "Two Poetries and One Language". International Poetry Festival of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada.
1992 Invited by the South African National Congress of Writers (COSAW) she traveled throughout the republic offering recitals and literary workshops. She was guest of honor at the Third Conference of Caribbean Women Writers, held in Curaçao, as well as the fifth edition of Carifesta held in Trinidad Tobago. She was selected to participate in the prestigious international Writers program at the University of Iowa.
1993 Poetry House Festival of Caracas, Venezuela, Pérez Bonalde Prize. She was invited by the Georges Pompidou Center of Paris to participate in literary gatherings that also took place in Martinique and Dominican Republic. Between 1986 and this year she directs the Center for Caribbean Studies of Casa de las Américas. From this year until 1995 she directs the Editorial PM of the "Pablo Milanés" Foundation.
1994 Participates in the Royal Festival Hall International Poetry Festival.
Poetry reading under the auspices of the theatrical company El Silbo Vulnerado of Zaragoza.
1995 Participates in the Poetry Biennial of Val-de-Marne, Paris.
Poetry reading under the auspices of the theatrical company El Silbo Vulnerado of Zaragoza (1996, 1997, 1998).
1996 Teaches summer courses at the University of Jarandilla de la Vera. Participates in the Congress on African American Literatures, Gainesville, Florida. Attends the colloquium Cuban and Catalan poets in honor of Rafael Alberti, Puerto de Santa María, Bay of Cádiz.
1997 Participates in the International Poetry Festival Malmö Sweden. Participates in the Hispanic Cuban Poetry and Theater Festival of Cienfuegos, Cuba. Attends the Colloquium on the work of Mario Benedetti regarding his investiture as Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Alicante. Speaks at the International Conference Yari-Yari on women's writing of the African diaspora at New York University. Attends the San Antonio Texas Book Fair.
1998 Attends the International Alcañiz Castle Festival, Spain.
International Poetry Festival of Medellín, Colombia. Poetry reading at the Casa Silva of Bogotá. Teaches a summer course at the University of Alicante on Cuban Literature. Participates in the international colloquium "Les poétiques d'Édouard Glissant", held at the "Louis Liard" amphitheater of the University of La Sorbonne, Paris, France.
2000 Participated in tribute events that Casa de América of Madrid organized for the 80th anniversary of Mario Benedetti.
Gave lectures at several Universities of California, The State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly) Pomona; The Institute of International Studies of California State University in San Bernardino; the Center for Latin American Studies of California State University in Los Angeles. Delivered closing remarks at the colloquium "Through His Mirror" on the poetics of Eliseo Diego, sponsored by the Institute of Literature and Linguistics of La Habana. Gave the lecture "Guillén Goes with the Music" in the Cuban Popular Music course from Ernesto Lecuona to Juan Formell, in the VI Edition of summer courses jointly sponsored by King Juan Carlos I University and SGAE in the city of Ronda, Málaga, Spain. Intervenes in the International Conference "Crossing Borders: the African diaspora before the new millennium", sponsored by the Department of History of New York University and the Arthur Schomburg Institute of African American Cultures of the same city. Attends the VII edition of the International Carifesta Festival, held on the island of St. Kitts & Nevis.
2001 Participates in IV Conference of Hispanic Caribbean Writers sponsored by York University in New York.
Offers poetry reading at Casa de las Américas which was the venue for the conference of the magazine Callaloo from the United States. Conducts a series of presentations, including a poetry reading at the Summer Festival organized by the World Institute of Literature of Berlin, gives a recital at the Iberoamerican Institute of Berlin and at the International Book Fair of that city. Delivers opening remarks at the VII Conference "Cultural Critiques in the Caribbean" held in the capital of Austria, sponsored by the University of Vienna. Participates in the II Congress of Poetry in Spanish Language from the Perspective of the 21st Century sponsored by the Caro y Cuervo Institute of Bogotá, Colombia. Participates in the International Congress "Nicolás Guillén: Hispanism, Avant-Garde and Social Commitment" held in Ciudad Real and Almagro, Spain.