<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" dir="ltr" lang="en-US">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/06/01/renowned-poet-uninvited-from-festival-in-latest-anti-cuba-attack/">peoplesdispatch.org</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Renowned poet Nancy Morejón uninvited from festival in latest anti-Cuba attack</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Zoe Alexandra - June 1, 2023<br></div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><img src="cid:ii_lif8qdd60" alt="image.png" width="392" height="220"><br><p>Nancy Morejón is an internationally recognized poet, translator, and academic. (Photo: T. Charles Erickson)
</p><div>
<p><span>France’s distinguished poetry festival, </span><i><span>le Marché de la Poésie</span></i><span>,
or the Poetry Market, has come under fire by artists, writers, and
activists across the world for their last minute decision to cancel the
honorary presidency of Nancy Morejón over the 40th edition of the
festival. The festival which will take place from June 7-11 in Paris
announced the decision on Wednesday May 31, less than a week before the
festival is set to kick off.</span></p>
<p><span>Nancy Morejón is an internationally recognized poet,
translator, and academic. She was the first Black woman to win Cuba’s
National Literature Prize and her extensive body of work touches on
Black Cuban history and culture, women, and much more. She has lectured
at Wellesley College and the University of Missouri in the United
States, and currently serves as the director of the Unión Magazine, the
journal of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC).</span></p>
<p><span>In the public statement announcing their decision, the board of
Poetry Market wrote that the decision was made in response to
“pressures, rumors, and attempts exerted to date, by both sides.”</span></p>
<p><span>Despite the festival’s vagueness, the decision was a direct
response to a campaign waged by a hardline right-wing Cuban activist and
writer Jacobo Machover, who today lives in Paris, France. On May 24,
2023, the right-wing writer shared a </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/jacobo.machover.3/posts/pfbid02S55GxqGoqbSKKrsx8u9AHvq18rezuoD3ypb9NyFeZkDwNL2iGP88jLZ7QWddkE6al"><span>communiqué</span></a><span>
on Facebook expressing his “dismay” at her notable achievement and said
that bestowing this honor to the renowned Afro-Cuban poet would be
“incongruous” and potentially tarnish the “reputation and image” of the
festival. He demanded that the honor be withdrawn and declared that this
act would “contribute to the freedom of Cuba, and of course of its
poetry and literature, which are the common heritage of writers and
poets the world over.”</span></p>
<p><span>Shortly after, the PEN Club France, an association of writers
and artists which advocates for freedom of expression, and its president
Antoine Spire wrote letters to the Poetry Market claiming that Morejón
was unsuitable to receive the honor at the festival because, ironically,
she is not against the Cuban government. </span></p>
<p><span>Spire </span><a href="https://www.penclub.fr/communiques/lettre-a-la-direction-du-marche-de-la-poesie-a-propos-de-nancy-morejon/"><span>wrote</span></a><span>,
“she has not only strongly supported the policies of her country’s
authorities, but has even signed several texts in Cuba, which we have in
our possession, affirming that there is no repression on the island…
I’m sure you, like us, haven’t had the time to research this woman’s
biography, otherwise you’d have given up entrusting her with this honor.
Is it still possible to turn back the clock? The French Pen Club,
committed to the poetry market, urges you to do so.”</span></p>
<p><span>In just under a week, Machado was successful in canceling the honor to be bestowed on Morejón for her long history of work.</span></p>
<h3><b>Freedom of expression?</b></h3>
<p><span>The hasty decision has provoked a massive outcry from artists,
writers, and progressive organizations across the world who question how
the festival can use the pretext of freedom of speech and expression to
silence an artist due to political pressures.</span></p>
<p><span>UNEAC strongly condemned the decision and in a press
conference, the president of the Writers’ Association of UNEAC, Alberto
Marrero, declared, “Cuban writers and artists repudiate any attempt to
disqualify Nancy’s poetic and human trajectory and express our
solidarity support to the distinguished creator. The hatred against
Cuban poetry and culture [will achieve] nothing.”</span></p>
<p><span>The World Poetry Movement, which Morejón pertains to, released a
statement condemning the French festival’s decision and called for
people across the world to do the same. They specifically criticize the
stigmatizing treatment faced by Cuban artists outside of the island and
call it a “practice that offends and attempts to humiliate all artists
who are faithful to their people and stand by them, in the face of the
imperial onslaught and the economic, financial, commercial, media,
diplomatic and cultural war waged by the United States of America
against the small socialist island of the Caribbean.” They say that her
only crime is “living and working in Cuba, and standing by the Cuban
Revolution.”</span></p>
<p><span>Hannah Craig, the art space coordinator at the People’s Forum of New York City, told </span><i><span>Peoples Dispatch</span></i><span>,
“We’re so often told that Cuban artists aren’t ‘free’, but we see with
this example that real censorship comes from the imperialists, not from
within Cuba. Nancy Morejon’s incredible work and legacy should be shared
with the world, but because of right-wing pressure we are seeing an
attempt to silence her.”</span></p>
<p><span>The International Union of Left Publishers (IULP) also released a <a href="https://1804books.com/blogs/news/statement-of-solidarity-with-cuban-poet-nancy-morejon">statement</a>
condemning the decision and highlighting the hypocrisy of the French
festival, “Not only does this decision go against all principles of
freedom of expression and of ideas, it also capitulates to right-wing
demands for censorship and legitimizes the systemic attacks of the US,
Europe, and the interests of global capitalism on Cuban culture and
society.” The IULP offered its support and solidarity to Morejón and “to
all the Cuban writers and artists who, together with their people,
stand strong and with dignity in the face of the systemic attacks of US
imperialism and its European partners.”</span></p>
<p><span>The campaign against Morejón comes in the midst of similar attacks against Cuban musical group, </span><i><span>Buena Fe</span></i><span>,
which is currently on tour in Spain. Right-wing activists violently
disrupted several performances of the group, attacked singer Israel
Rojas in a restaurant in Barcelona, and have pressured venue owners to
cancel several scheduled concerts.</span></p>
<p><span>Cuba’s Foreign Ministry released a </span><a href="https://cubaminrex.cu/es/asedio-del-odio-fascista-la-cultura-cubana-declaracion-de-ministerio-de-relaciones-exteriores"><span>statement</span></a><span>
on June 1 condemning the “siege of fascist hatred of Cuban culture.”
The ministry highlighted that, “Cuban culture, which suffers the impact
of the inhuman and illegal economic blockade, is the bearer of messages
of peace, dialogue and tolerance. It rejects the barbarism, hatred and
violence that the imperialist monopolistic interests of the United
States and some of its allies are trying to impose.”</span></p>
<p><span>In the statement, the Foreign Ministry affirmed that “Cuba will
not stop presenting its culture in any corner of the world and will
respond with firmness and unity to every aggression.”</span></p>
</div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>