A friend dies and you have a hole in your chest as if something else was removed, a fibrous part. If that friend is also a great poet, it hurts twice as much. But finding him when half a year has passed since his departure, precisely between his verses, leaves that bittersweet flavor of at least having known him and that he will continue alive thanks to poetry.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- This is what happened with the presentation of La eternidad no basta para todos (Eternity is not enough for everyone), the last book published by Antonio Borrego (he left other unpublished ones), within the framework of the 53 Cucalambeana Fiesta (online edition).
My feeling is shared. Argel Fernández Granado, editor of the text and Tony's personal friend (as they called him) expressed to 26Digital: “Now that some time has passed since his death, I can speak more calmly because that is not easy. I am extremely pleased to have worked on this literary proposal together with Roberto Manzano, who wrote the prologue.”
According to the representative of Casa de las Américas in Las Tunas, the volume is written in sonnets, a strophic form that, although a little rigid, he knew how to dominate with his talent. Almost a hundred poems of this type make up the selection, which reflects different moments in the life of the author of Discurso de un hombre solo (Speech by an alone man).
For Argel, it means a kind of summary of his literary life up to the time of his death, since Tony left several notebooks in a drawer, both poetry, novels and short stories.
La eternidad no basta para todos (Eternity is not enough for everyone) was going to have its debut at the Book Fair in this province, but the circumstances of the COVID-19 forced the use of virtual spaces for this purpose. Within the Catauro de la Décima, an essential appointment in the Cucalambeana Fiesta, was shared the text that becomes an approach to the work of who is considered by many to be the most important writer of his generation.
Tony was a poet to the core and also cultivated the narrative; he was a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac) and had a degree in Film, Radio and Television Direction. In addition, he was the founder of the Hermanos Saìz Association (AHS) in the territory and won several important awards such as Cucalambé (2005 and 2009). His publications include: Doy gracias a Dios de ser ateo (I thank God for being an atheist), Terrenal (Earthly), Diapositivas (Slides), Juegos lunares (Moon games), Juanillo, Ovejas y demonios (Sheeps and demons), and Los días de Dios (The days of God).
Other texts such as the reprint of Todos los trenes pasan por Omaja (All Trains Go Through Omaja), by Adalberto Hechavarría, and Con el gesto del bufón (With the Gesture of the Jester), by Domingo Peña are presented during the Supreme Party of the Cuban Peasantry. These belong, like that of Antonio Borrego, to the Montaraz collection, of the Sanlope publishing house, in Las Tunas.
