• In Granada Rafael Guillén and poetry 'in that concept called time'
  • Rafael Guillén Federico García Lorca International Poetry Prize

The Granada poet Rafael Guillén, National Poetry Prize, died this Thursday in Granada at the age of 90, according to sources in his environment.

Belonging to the so-called Generation of 50, Guillén (Granada, 1933) began his literary activity in 1953 as a member of "Versos libres", a group of young writers who broke the silence in which Granada post-war poetry had sunk after the assassination of Federico García Lorca.

With the poetry collection "Veleta del Sur", which he founded and directed four years later with José G. Ladrón de Guevara, he began to revitalize the literary scene in Granada during the time it remained active, until 1966.

Also as editor he directed in 1982 with Francisco Izquierdo the series of fascicles the Albaicín "Los papeles del Carro de San Pedro", but it was much earlier, in 1956, when he published his first book of poems, "Antes de la esperanza", with which he began an extensive literary career that earned him in 1994 the National Prize for Literature for his work "Los estados transparentes".

This recognition was followed by many more such as the Andalusian Critics Prize, the Federico García Lorca International Poetry Prize or, previously, the Circle of Ibero-American Writers and Poets of New York, among others.

The mayor of Granada, Francisco Cuenca, has lamented his death, apparently due to a stroke, because it means the departure of "one of the great poets that Granada has given to the world of letters".

"The void left by his person we will try to supply it with the strength of a work that will be unrepeatable," he said about Rafael Guillén, Gold Medal of Merit of the City of Granada.

The mayor has highlighted the poet's commitment to his city, where until recently he participated in poetry readings at the Federico García Lorca Center. "An example of work, talent and perseverance for the whole city", as demonstrated "just a week ago at the Book Fair", he added.

The City Council has made itself available to the family "for what they need".

The Andalusian Minister of Culture, Arturo Bernal, has also spoken on social networks to point out that "Andalusian letters lose one of their great poets of recent decades", who leaves "a rich and extensive work that will be his great legacy".

For her part, the deputy of Culture and Historical Memory, Fátima Gómez, has transferred, on behalf of the Diputación de Granada, condolences to his widow, daughters and friends, and has highlighted the poet's "clear mind" and his "enviable humor".

The Provincial Council, which awarded him the Gold Medal of the province in 2013, published last year a book ("To say love, simply") in which more than a hundred poets of various currents and tendencies who admired Guillén and who "saw in him an example, a figure to follow".

  • literature

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Learn more