Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989)
Biography
Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista (Camagüey, July 10, 1902 – Havana, July 16, 1989) was a journalist, poet, and Cuban politician, considered the national poet of Cuba. Founding member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UECA).
A critic of injustice and imperialism, Guillén aligns with the neo-romantic and metaphysical concerns of his era: love and death figure among the fundamental themes of his poetry. With Tengo (1964), he expresses the joy of revolutionary Cuba.
He is credited with having invented, under the influence of Francophone négritude and the New York Harlem Renaissance, a poetry of African and Antillean inspiration named « négrismo ».
Works set to music
Several poems by Guillén have been set to music: Soldadito Boliviano by Paco Ibáñez (on the death of Che Guevara), La muralla by the Quilapayún.
Works translated into French
| Year | Original Title | French Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Chansons cubaines | Seghers, trans. Claude Couffon |
| 1959 | Élégies et chansons cubaines | Seghers, trans. Claude Couffon |
| 1967 | El gran zoo (1967) | Seghers, trans. René Dépestre |
| 1984 | Poèmes 1930-1972 | Seghers, trans. Claude Couffon |
| 1988 | En tournant la page : mémoires | Actes Sud, trans. Annie Morvan + Couffon |