The Provincial Committee of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac as it is known in Spanish by its acronyms) joins the wave of creators who are socializing cultural initiatives these days through social networks to contribute to the entertainment and self-improvement of people at home, during the social distancing that is currently being undertaken to largely avoid the threat of the new coronavirus.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Marina Lourdes Jacobo (Chachi), president of this organization in the province, designed from her home the dynamic Literary Inquiry, which allows those who want to listen to poetry by authors from Las Tunas or from other nations to do so via telephone. She made available her number: 5331340446.
Initially thought for the elderly, the proposal has been very well accepted among users of different ages and professions, a plausible invitation that is gaining more and more followers.
It is a very nice experience. They have called from almost every province (Pinar del Río, Mayabeque, Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas, Havana), from children to the elderly. Sometimes I ask them their favorite poet and other times they ask for suggestions. They are common people in society who immediately start an affective conversation, telling me about their family and other aspects of their lives. I am satisfied, each person is a different world, the poet said.
According to her, it is a way of keeping alive her project of cultural promotion From Verse to the Star, which for more than a decade she has defended in different spaces. First in the Vicente García Park, then in the Cultural Plaza of the Buena Vista Tank and finally in the Maceo Park, where it takes place until today (except these days of new coronavirus), every Friday at 10:00 a.m.
At the beginning I thought to dedicate it only to the old people, because they always care about their families and it is fair to reward them for that dedication, besides, this way I ask them how they feel and I take advantage of it to offer them advice. But the welcome has been so much that I am called the same by men, women, children, young people, and grandparents. Sometimes the children ask me to call their mother and read them a poem. Likewise, boyfriends or married couples who are interested call me as well, it's very nice, she said.
Pablo Neruda, Dulce María Loynaz and Nicolás Guillén are among the most sought-after authors to date in this reader-listener complicity. In this sensitive and didactic process, the manager clarifies that there has not been a single offensive call to date, quite the contrary, always grateful for the opportunity, a demonstration that poetry builds and moves hearts.
There was even one from Santiago who also shared with her his verses and told her that, without dedicating himself to literature as a professional practice, he undertakes a similar initiative in his land, where he calls people and shares works of his authorship.
Lourdes Jacobo also informed that Uneac in Las Tunas is taking the first steps to set up an alternative of cultural promotion, which intends to spread the work of the artistic vanguard of the territory through multiple supports, with the help of the press and its digital platforms. While gathering the necessary data, she gives herself to this new passion that makes her smile every time the magic ring is heard in her house.
