Es la primera vez que aparece, publicado en la Colección Sur, un poeta de Estados Unidos, Jan G. Otterstrom, quien así abre además las perspectivas de este proyecto editorial a voces líricas que provienen del norte, como se evidencia en la incorporación al catálogo de otros poetas de Austria, Francia, Alemania, Suiza.
El norteamericano Jan G. Otterstrom nació en La Jolla, California, el 18 de octubre de 1944. Es Doctor en Leyes de la Universidad de Gonzaga, Spokane, Washington y también Master en Administración de Negocios, del Instituto Centroamericano de Administración de Empresas, de Costa Rica. Como es graduado de Literatura Inglesa en la Universidad de Brigham Young, Provo, Utha, institución en la que ganó el Premio Hart-Larson de Poesía, en 1967.
Su cuaderno “Loom” (“Telar”), es una edición bilingüe inglés-español, y debe su traducción al castellano por Julio César Llópiz Pacheco, Licenciado en Idioma Inglés, del Instituto Superior Pedagógico de Manzanillo, y guionista y director de televisión. Y cuenta además con el prólogo del desaparecido poeta y periodista Luis Suardíaz.
En el poemario, cuya publicación en Cuba fue coauspiciada, también, por el Festival Internacional de Poesía de La Habana, el escritor norteamericano reflexiona sobre el sentido de la vida, desde la esencia del cristianismo y cuestiona la barbarie de la guerra, de la violencia como falaces e inadecuadas respuestas al terrorismo, desde la dolorosa experiencia, vivida por el pueblo estadounidense, el 11 de septiembre del 2001, en Nueva York:
Today some terrorists destroyed
The World Trade Center towers
And made a dent in the Pentagon
Thousands dead and Bin Laden,
Some ex-CIA operative, blamed.
Next day and the world in shock.
This is the beginning of something.
Seeing the planes crash and Towers
Collapsing imprinted on your brain.
Trying to find solid ground in a
Crazy world, safety in righteousness.
The United States protected as long
As it was righteous, that era has ended.
This is wake up, history of bloodshed
Horror, manipulation of foreign politics
For selfish interests is coming home.
Escalating violence leads to more horror
Death, until the warriors are all exhausted…
(Tomado del original en inglés)
Hoy unos terroristas destruyeron
Las torres del World Trade Center
Y provocaron daños al Pentágono
Miles de muertos y el acusado fue Bin Laden
Un antiguo agente de la CIA.
Pasa un día y el mundo sigue horrorizado.
Esto es el comienzo de algo.
No puedo apartar de mi mente
Los aviones y la caída de las torres.
Quisiera encontrar tierra firme y confianza
En la justicia de este mundo loco.
Estados Unidos solía proteger
Lo que era justo, pero esos tiempos ya se fueron.
Este es el despertar, historias de sangre derramada
Horror, la manipulación de la política extranjera
Con intereses egoístas llega a casa.
La violencia sólo conduce a más horror
A la muerte, ya los soldados están exhaustos…
(Traducción al español)
IBIS OF IMAGININGS A Poetic Diary 1965-1994
Información Tomada de Habana Radio
Comments for presentation of Suite
by: Julio Llópiz
Julio, You will have to put something together from these ideas and
present them in Spanish:
Suite is my collection of poems from 2004 until 2007. During this
period I decided to resign from an executive position that I had held
for almost 11 years to dedicate myself to finding something unique in
Cuba, that I had begun to sense on earlier visits. I began to travel
to Cuba regularly staying at least 20 days on each visit. To this
date I have visited La Habana more than 50 times. I have sensed a
spiritual link between myself and what I feel is La Habana. This book
investigates this spiriual world as opposed to the materialistic and
selfish world that I have endured. La Habana is much like returning
to my blessed childhood, with loving parents, a happy home and the
seaside environment of La Jolla California and lakeside Lausanne
Switzerland.
I have been enfluenced by the character Zorba in Niko Kazantzakis'
book by the same name. In the last chapter Zorba sends a telegram to
his old boss, the narrator, which reads: "Found a wonderful green
stone. Come immediately, Zorba"
Germany at this time was in the depths of depression... the narrator
describes the horrible reality of Germany between the two wars. Then
he writes: "To hell with beauty but soon I was horrified: my anger had
evaporated and I began to realize my heart was responding to this
inhuman appeal of Zorba's. Some wild bird in me was beating its wings
and asking to go. Yet I did not go. Once more I did not dare. I did
not obey the divine and savage clamor within me; I did no insensate,
noble act. I listened to the moderating cold, human voice of logic."
I did NOT want to make the same mistake as the narrator, Zorba's boss,
in the novel, so I quite my job and traveled to Cuba.
I have always been prompted by a comment of Rene Crevel, the french
philosopher: "No daring is fatal." Zorba is our Don Quijote and his boss
Sancho.
Cuba symbolizes for me and its present reality is evidence of
Nietzsche's comment that everything decisive arises as the result of
opposition and resistence. I have also been influenced deeply by Jean
Paul Sartre and our identified quest to become and or discover our
personal authenticity. Georg Lukas talks about having an aspiration
towards totality and wholeness and the obvious conclusion that the
more conscious we are the more we are separated from the world. To
create beauty, the spirit needs to be separated and isolated from the
world. Cuba is certainly an isolated culture that has had to endure
and prove its resistence to the most horrible political forces of our
day.
I learned years ago that it is useless to search for meaning in life.
Life has no meaning since it is meerly a process. If you insist on
meaning its meaning is its process. Life's process is to develope and
mold us: to perfect our character and unique artistic talents,
helping us to become more humble, tolerant, loving, kind, generous and
to be able to express our vision through our special voice whether it
be words, music, plastic arts or dance form. The qualities of
character and artistic talent that we are able to develope in life are
our eternal destiny.
Suite delves into the challenges of developing a more noble character,
resisting the influences of a selfish outside world and searching for
and expressing the beauty and spiritual magic that is within us and
all around us.
I am sincerely sorry that I am not with you at this moment. I love
and care for you. I am dedicated to two musical productions that
have consumed all of my resources but I hope will fairly represent La
Habana to the world in music as Suite does in words.
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