London, 21 October 2022- The reading of poems by Cuba's National Hero, José Martí (1853-1895), translated into English by British writer and journalist Adam Feinstein, marked the celebration here today of Cuban Culture Day.
On this significant date, we have decided to pay tribute to José Martí, in his work as an intellectual, poet and great man of Cuban culture and Spanish letters, explained the Cuban Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Bárbara Montalvo, at the event held on Thursday at the London headquarters of the Cervantes Institute.
After highlighting the role played by the Cuban hero as a politician and organiser of the war for independence, the diplomat added that the celebration marks the day on which the notes of the Cuban national anthem were sung for the first time on 20 October 1868.
Culture has been the shield and sword of the nation, and is expressed in the values of solidarity, humanism and national unity within diversity, creative freedom and the creation of consensus and dialogue, Montalvo said.
Feinstein, also known for his translations of the work of acclaimed Latin American authors such as Pablo Neruda, Rubén Darío, Mario Benedetti and Roque Dalton, declaimed his English version of Versos Sencillos and other poems by Martí, in which, he explained, he took some licences to respect the rhyme.
In a video message sent from Havana, the director of the Centro de Estudios Martianos, Marlene Vázquez, pointed out that the Apostle, as the Cuban National Hero is also called, was a mediator and a link between different worlds and cultures.
His work was the melting pot where the best prose of the Spanish-speaking world and modernism merged, he said.
The celebration of Cuban Culture Day in London was attended by academics, representatives of political parties and members of the diplomatic corps accredited in the UK, as well as the director of the Cervantes Institute, Víctor Ugarte, who said he was pleased to host the event.
( Prensa Latina)