Nancy Morejohn Author: Internet
On May 31, the French poetry festival Marché de la Poésie, or the Poetry Market, announced that it would be revoking renowned Cuban poet and intellectual Nancy Morejon as honorary president of the festival. This decision was widely condemned by writers and artists around the world. The International Union of Left-wing Publishers issued a public statement condemning Poetry Market’s decision. The full text of the statement is given below.
We, from the International Union of Left Publishers (IULP), condemn the decision of the organizers of the Paris Poetry Market (Marché de la Poésie) to remove the status of honorary president of the Cuban poet, publicist and intellectual Nancy Morejon, considered one of the most significant voices in contemporary Cuban literature.
A national award for the culture of the island and deserving of the highest recognition for her work – both in Cuba and abroad – Morejon was appointed this year as the honorary president of the Poetry Market, a literary event that has been consistently held in the French capital since 1983. However, after false claims by Jacobo Machover — a Cuban-French writer who has used his platform throughout his career to attack the Cuban revolution and its people — and under pressure from the French PEN club, the organizers of the event issued a statement. abolishing the distinction, arguing that the decision was made in defense of “all forms of freedom, creativity, opinion and expression”.
The blatant hypocrisy of the organizers of the Poetry Fair is obvious. This decision not only goes against all principles of freedom of speech and ideas, capitulates to the demands of censorship from the right, but also legitimizes the systematic attacks of the US, Europe and the interests of world capitalism on Cuban culture and society.
We, the editors, writers, creators and artists, the men and women who make up the IULP, offer our support and solidarity to the poet Nancy Morejon and to all the writers and artists who in Cuba, together with their people, remain strong and worthy. in the face of systematic attacks by US imperialism and its European partners. We welcome the example of the Cuban literary tradition, rich in ideas and proposals for a world transformed by the good life of all mankind.
Books 1804 (USA)
Battle of Ideas (Argentina)
Brigade Read at Large (Mexico)
Editorial Dogma (Mexico)
Publishing Rhodes (Cuba)
Revision Combatiente (Peru)
Editorial El Colectivo (Argentina)
Editorial Set the Ocean on Fire (Mexico)
EPO (Belgium)
Red Star (Venezuela)
Expressão Popular (Sao Paulo)
Economic Culture Foundation (Mexico)
Casa de las Americas Publishing Foundation (Cuba)
The Dog and the Frog Editorial Foundation (Venezuela)
Ganoprakashan (Bangladesh)
Simon Bolivar Institute (Venezuela)
Kriya Madhyama (India)
Editing La Fogata (Colombia)
Left Word Books (India)
Free manifest (Catalonia)
Margin Kiri (Indonesia)
Monte Avila Latin American Publishers (Venezuela)
Naked kick (Pakistan)
Nawatelangana Publishing (India)
Editions for girls (Argentina)
Society of Writers and Writers of Chile (Chile)
Vaam Prakashan (India)
Vadell Brothers Publishing (Venezuela)
Založba/*cf (Slovenia)
Editorial Trinchera (Venezuela)
(Taken from Peoples Dispatch website)
Source: Juventud Rebelde