An Evening with Ricardo Pau-Llosa at La Otra Esquina de las Palabras (pictures, and introductory remarks by Alina Fernández)

Introductory Remarks by Alina Fernández

Good evening and welcome.

I assume that at least almost all of us, here tonight, are aware of all of Ricardo’s achievements. Ricardo the Iconoclast, the Severe Thinker, the precursor, the “rarest of specimens” or “the rebel without an inferiority complex”, as he was being called in several occasions. But I wouldn’t dare to add another category to that long list. Because, beside my admiration for the persona, I’ve learn to consider him, a friend. And you all know how difficult it is to speak about a friend! Of course I could sing his Praises! I could refer to the courage of a man barricade in his defense of Our Art, the Latin-American Art. I could speak of a man with no trenches, or limits, to be free, to act freely, and to speak freely.

Imagine if he uses his freedom of expression that he had already published 6 books, of poetry! Whom else in the XXI Century? Because there’s the fact: Ricardo Pau-LLosa is also a poet. Hundreds of years ago, a poet was the elite of mankind, but in our days, a poet is more of an abandoned, a bastard creator. You know that poetry is a very personal creation, is the fruit of a passionate love that is born within ourselves and that’s precisely why the poet could feel offended by a comment, or any interpretation regarding his creature. That’s why, God forbid! I won’t comment on Ricardo’s poetry. Let him explain, if he finds it necessary, what he meant to say when he wrote about “a beast that would fill a calendar of ambition and make golden the held breath of solid night”.

I am already PLEASED with the aesthetic of his work. With the ENJOYMEN of his work and the honor of sharing, together with him, and all of you, present here tonight, an intimacy that is only made possible when a privileged soul has the courage to whisper the secrets of his core. Let’s hear, in this beautiful night, HOW RICARDO’S SOUL WHISPERS.