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See interview below in Spanish and English

This book finds the common ground of fellowship.  It truly unites Canadians and Cubans through poetry. This book is unique for three reasons: 1) It is the first such joint Canada-Cuba poetry project; 2) All of the poets included in this book are either Canadian or Cuban; and 3) All poems and narrative in this book will appear in both languages, English and Spanish.  It is truly an international collaboration.

“Intimate Strangers” is brought into focus by the bond of two editors, one Canadian, Paul Carr, and one Cuban, Manuel García Verdecia. Mr. Carr lives in Toronto, Canada, and Mr Garcia is a resident of Holguin, Cuba. Each are inseparably entangled in poetry and each other’s countries.

Paul Carr is the author of a sensitive, passionate collection of poetry on Cuba entitled “My Malecon”. Paul has had his poetry published in English and Spanish in several journals and anthologies. He has also been an active member of the Cuba solidarity movement for the past several years, and is a member of the executive of the Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association (Toronto) and the Canadian Network on Cuba. He is intimately familiar with the Cuban people and landscape through his many visits to the island.

Manuel Garcia is a published poet with many works translated into English. He is as intimately familiar with Canada as Paul is with Cuba. He spent a year living in Montreal, working as a professor at Concordia University, and maintains contact with a number of close friends in Canada. His love for poetry is demonstrated through his commitment to the Cuban Institute of Books and Literacy and the Union of Artists and Writers.

Their love for Canada and Cuba is bonded through their mutual love for poetry in this book “Intimate Strangers”.

Richard M. Grove
Canadian Poetry Association President
Canada Cuba Literary Alliance President



This article was published in CORREO Canadiense Spanish Newspaper, of Toronto, Canada.
http://www.elcorreo.ca/



Poesía une a cubanos y canadienses


ELIZABETH MENESES

Como los mejores amigos, apasionados por el juego de palabras, el arte de imaginar, y contar emociones, poetas cubanos y canadienses se convierten en ‘Extraños Intimos’, a través de un proyecto cultural literario que logra unirlos a pesar de las fronteras que los separan.
El libro que contiene el trabajo de diez poetas de cada país- traducidos en español e inglés -es el fruto de unos talleres organizados por Richard M. Grove, presidente de la Asociación Canadiense de Poesía.

“Extraños íntimos”: Cubanos y canadienses unidos por la poesía
Dos culturas superan las barreras lingüísticas con el dialecto de la emoción


Grove visitó la ciudad de Holguin, en Cuba y prefirió salirse de su papel de turista para involucrarse con el movimiento literario cubano.
“No quería sólo visitar los museos o a la plaza comercial de Holguin y luego regresarme al hotel, es por eso que quise contactarme con quienes hacían poesía y así conocí a Manuel García, vicepresidente de la Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNIAC), a quien le propuse trabajar un proyecto juntos y fue cuando decidimos hacer los talleres tanto en Cuba como en Canadá”, asegura el “hombre con cuerpo de oso y gestos de niño grande”, según lo describe el poeta Manuel García, quien agrega que la idea comenzó “por la hospitalidad cubana”.  “Pensé que era otro diletante curioso pero lo conocí. Richard quería desarrollar un taller de escritura poética pero los escritores cubanos somos reacios a los talleres pues pensamos que la escritura es un ejercicio más complejo que un grupo de procedimientos y técnicas.  Pero venció la hospitalidad”, comenta García, editor del libro “Extraños Intimos”.
Fue así como los experimentados poetas fueron llegando y la inspiración se dio en medio de un taller al estilo canadiense.
“El taller estuvo basado en fotografías, como la de una niña en el tren, tomada en los años 40.  Cada uno analizaba la misma foto, y después se escribían sólo notas acerca de la fotos, luego se compartían y se leían en voz alta y después se convertían en una historia que gracias a diferentes ideas se  volvían poemas”, explica Grove, quien uso el mismo sistema tanto en Cuba como en Canadá.
Sin embargo, su estilo no calo con mucha facilidad entre quienes tenían el corazón lleno de poesía.
“Tenía la perspectiva norteamericana de que todo el mundo sabe acerca de cómo funcionan los talleres y no fue así. En Cuba ellos nunca antes habían hecho talleres y en Canadá es muy común, usted va con su poema, lo lee y escucha una crítica pero en Cuba ellos presentan un poema final y ya”, explica Grove.

Diferencias íntimas

Entre la ansiedad y el nerviosismo, los poetas cubanos  hicieron el proceso inverso planteado en los talleres.  Primero la poesía, luego la técnica.
“En el taller de Canadá, nadie escribió un poema, ellos hicieron lo que nosotros les dijimos.  Pero en Cuba había nerviosismo. Tan pronto les mostré la fotografía, entendieron que escribiría un poema sobre esa foto, y empezaron a escribir en vez de esperar el proceso del taller. Nosotros íbamos a aprender algo diferente, a hacer algo distinto en esta ocasión de cómo usualmente escribíamos la poesía. Algunos confesaron que hicieron el proceso inverso, del poema terminado sacaron pequeñas frases”, cuenta Grove.
De igual manera, el taller en el que se pretendían compartir ideas se encontró con el sentido de propiedad de los cubanos.
“Algunos cubanos dijeron ‘esa es mi idea’ y no querían compartir, querían que fuera sólo de ellos. Había ese sentido de que las ideas eran propias y no era egoísmo, sino  un temor de que no los representará sólo a ellos y me pregunto si algo tiene que ver el nivel de pobreza de Cuba, donde usted no es dueño de muchas cosas, de pronto de un televisor o un radio, pero sí sus ideas. 

Una sola familia


El proyecto fue una única oportunidad literaria pensada en la solidaridad para comunicar a los poetas.  “Estos poetas también eran hermanos a nivel del alma y quise que el libro tuviera igualdad porque ambos, tanto canadienses como cubanos son escritores que han publicado cientos de veces”, asegura Grove quien eliminó divisiones para darle balance desde el título, hasta la portada y el contenido del libro. “Quise que fuera unido como una gran familia”, agrega.
“Extraños íntimos se encuentra a la venta por solicitud directa en la web de Hidden Book Express en Canadá, y en Cuba se pretende comercializar a nivel de los turistas.  Y desde ya, sus creadores están pensando en una segunda publicación.



This article was published in CORREO Canadiense Spanish Newspaper, of Toronto, Canada.
http://www.elcorreo.ca/

Poetry unites Cubans and Canadians

ELIZABETH MENESES

Like best friends, passionate about wordplay, the art of imagining and sharing emotions, Canadian and Cuban poets become “Intimate Strangers” through a literary and cultural project that manages to unite them in spite of the borders that separate them.

The book that contains the work of ten poets from each country- in both Spanish and English - is the product of workshops organized by Richard M. Grove, President of the Canadian Poetry Association.

“Intimate Strangers” – Cuban and Canadian authors united by poetry
Two cultures overcome linguistic barriers with the language of emotion

Grove visited the city of Holguin in Cuba, and eschewed the role of tourist in order to get involved in the Cuban literary movement.

“I did not want to just visit the museums or the shops of Holguin and then simply return to my hotel; I wanted to make contact with poets and that is how I met Manuel Garcia, vice president of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNIAC).  I suggested to him that we work together on a project and we decided to do the workshops both in Cuba and Canada,” said Grove. 

Grove is described by Garcia as “a bear of a man but with the gentleness of a big kid.” He adds that the idea began with “Cuban hospitality.” “I thought that he was another curious amateur, but then I got to know him. Richard wanted to do a poetry writing workshop, but the Cuban writers were reluctant to take the workshops because we think that writing is more complex than a bunch of procedures and techniques. But hospitality won out,” comments Garcia, the Co-editor of the book “Intimate Strangers.”

That is how the experienced poets started showing up and inspiration took hold in the middle of a Canadian-style workshop.

“The workshop was based on photographs, such as that of a girl on a train taken in the 1940s. Each poet analysed the same photo and wrote only notes about the photos.  These then were shared and read aloud, and later they became a story that, thanks to different ideas, became poems,” explains Grove, who used the same system in Cuba as in Canada.

This way of working, however, did not catch on very easily with the Cuban poets.

“I had a North American perspective that everyone knows how the workshops work, but that was not the case. In Cuba they had never had the experience of doing workshops, while in Canada they are very common.  You go with your poem, read it and listen to a critique, but in Cuba they present a final poem and that’s it,” explains Grove.

Intimate differences

With some anxiety and nervousness, the Cuban poets did the reverse of the process presented in the workshops. First the poetry, then the technique.

“In the workshop in Canada, nobody wrote a poem first - they followed the instructions of the workshop. But in Cuba there was uneasiness. As soon as I showed the photograph, they understood that they would write a poem on that photo and they began to write instead of allowing the process of the workshop to unfold. I said we were going to learn something different, to do something different on this occasion from how we usually write poetry.  Some poets confessed that they did the reverse process, and took small phrases from the finished poem,” recounts Grove.

At the same time, in the workshop in which the goal was to share ideas, the Cubans’ sense of ownership came through.

“Some Cubans felt ‘this is my idea’ and they did not want to share it for others to use - they wanted it for themselves. There was a sense that the ideas were theirs alone, and it was not selfishness but a fear that there ideas might not represent only them.  I wonder if it has something to do with the level of poverty in Cuba where not one is not the owner of many things, such as a television set or a radio, but one definitely owns one’s ideas.”

All one family

The workshops and the finished book were a unique literary opportunity designed to create solidarity among the poets. “These poets were also soulmates and I wanted the book to have a sense of balance because both Canadians and Cubans are writers who have published hundreds of times,” said Grove.  He eliminated divisions to give balance to the title, the front page and the content of the book. “I wanted the poets to be united as one big family.”

“Intimate Strangers” is for sale on the website of Hidden Brook Press in Canada.  In Cuba, Grove intends to market the book to tourists. And the book’s creators are already thinking about a second publication.

(Translation from Spanish by V. Crawford)