CAMAGÜEY.- The talking shop Island in my body had a good start yesterday in the Trova House Patricio Ballagas in this city, set for every other Thursday with poetry and trova as an urgent alternative for this cultural center in need of intimist spaces with healthier audiences.

The musician Antonio Batista had the idea and lured the writer Yoandra Santana. Together and in their own right, they invited  Luis Álvarez Álvarez, National Literature Prize, since Island in my body is the title of his book published by the Publisher Ácana in 2017, and of the poem set to music by Batista for the occasion, who has the will to take the verses written by Camagueyans to the music staff.

At four thrirty in the afternoon, the start time, there was the founding audience, most of them theater students in the Arts Academy Vicentina de la Torre. Given the open mike opportunity, the youngsters seized the moment to recite and sing works of their own and of universal authors, and almost all of them put their phrases in for a collective poem in the game of the Exquisite corpse.

They also enjoyed the evocation of the bards Ángel Escobar, Severo Sarduy, Raúl Hernández Novás, Lina de Feria... and the interpretation of the work of songwriters such as Marta Valdés and Pablo Milanés, plus the accent of the hosting duo Yoandra and Batista.

At a time, Luis Álvarez told the history of the nation from the poetic enigmas and the heartbreak for the racism genocides in Cuba. He lectured using resounding phrases: “Poetry is not made out of imaginary muses. Poetry is, above all, testimony”. And before reading his verses, he said: “I want that the arising writers never forget that literature is born of mistery, and sometimes it is not only born of mistery, but is a mistery in itself”.

It was a friendly talking shop and, for the parents' peace of mind, protected, because when there are minors present no alcoholic beverages are sold, according to Francisco Noguera, director of the Trova House. There should come together, especially, students from other carreers and young creators to get to know each other as a generation, because they are the continuity of the artists and audiences that Camagüey needs. Besides, it is a free entrance.