Obra Poetica (1922-1958) & (1958-1977) (Two Volume Set)

La Habana, Cuba: Editorial Lettras. Good+. 1980. 2nd; 2nd Printing Thus. Paperback. U; Second Edition (1980) revised and enlarged. Second Printing Thus (1985) . Good+ in Wraps: both volumes show moderate wear to the extremities; mild rubbing to the panels and a few faint creases to the same; the backstrip has minor stress creasing and has been reinforced with clear cellophane tape; a former owner's name and date at the upper corner of the title page of both volumes; the bindings are square and secure; the texts are clean. Free of underlining, hi-lighting, notations, or marginalia. Carefully-used reading copies, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing moderate wear and minor flaws. NOT Remainders, Book-Clubs, or Ex-Library copies. 8vo. (8 x 5.75 x 2.2 inches) . Illustrated with duotone line drawings by the author. Compilation, Prologue and Notes by Angel Augier. Language: Spanish. Weight: 38.8 Ounces. Orange lace-designed self wrapper covers with royal blue titles at the front panel and backstrip and portraits of the author at the backstrip. Paperback. Nicolás Guillén (1902 – 1989) was a Cuban poet, journalist, and political activist. He is celebrated as the national poet of Cuba. Born in Camagüey, he studied law at the University of Havana, but abandoned a legal career and worked as a typographer and journalist. His poetry was published in various magazines from the early 1920s; his first collection, 'Motivos de son' (1930) was strongly influenced by his meeting that year with the African-American poet, Langston Hughes. He drew from 'son cubano' music (a genre of music and dance that originated in the highlands of eastern Cuba during the late 19th century. It is a syncretic genre that blends elements of Spanish and African origin) in his poetry. 'West Indies, Ltd.' , published in 1934, was Guillén's first collection with political implications. Cuba's dictatorial Gerardo Machado regime was overthrown in 1933, but political repression only intensified. After being jailed in 1936, Guillén joined the Communist Party the next year, traveling to Spain for a Congress of Writers and Artists, and covering the Spanish Civil War as a magazine reporter and traveled widely during the next decades in South America, China and Europe. In 1953, upon returning from a visit to Chile, he was refused re-entry to Cuba and spent five years in exile. He returned after the successful Cuban revolution of 1959. His awards included the Stalin Peace Prize in 1954, the 1976 International Botev Prize, and in 1983 he was the inaugural winner of Cuba's National Prize for Literature. Guillén drew from his mixed African and Spanish ancestry and education to combine his knowledge of traditional literary form with firsthand experience of the speech, legends, songs, and songs of Afro-Cubans in his first volume of poetry, "Motivos de son". It was soon acclaimed as a masterpiece and widely imitated. Guillén expressed in a personal way the struggles, dreams, and mannerisms of Afro-Cubans. He became outspoken politically, and dissatisfied with picturesque portrayal of the daily life of the poor. He began to decry their oppression in his poetry volumes 'Sóngoro cosongo' and 'West Indies Ltd'. Guillen also wrote 'Cantos para soldados' y 'sones para turistas', which reflected his growing political commitment. Guillén is probably the best-known representative of the "poesía negra" ("black poetry") , which tried to create a synthesis between black and white cultural elements, a "poetic mestizaje". Characteristic for his poems is the use of onomatopoetic words ("Sóngoro Cosongo", "Mayombe-bombe") that try to imitate the sound of drums or the rhythm of 'son cubano'. Silvestre Revueltas's symphonic composition 'Sensemayá' was based on Guillén's poem of the same name, and became that composer's best known work. Guillén is acknowledged as the most influential of those Latin American poets who dealt with African themes and re-created African song and dance rhythms in literary form. Guillen established the importance of Afro-Cuban culture as a valid genre in Cuban literature. Guillen captured the essence of the Afro-Cuban culture and the ways that its people deal with their personal situations. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; xl, 462 + 541 pages .