Oct 13 2024 33 mins
Host introduces acclaimed writer Pablo Medina, originally from Havana, Cuba, who now lives in Williamsville, Vermont near Brattleboro. Medina will be featured as part of the October 18-20, 2024 Brattleboro Literary Festival reading mostly from his new book of poetry "Sea of Broken Mirrors". Medina reads 'Home in Vermont,' an essay he wrote specifically for the Brattleboro Words Trail. It describes how in 1960 at age 12, after leaving on the last plane out of Cuba in the midst of the Cuban Revolution, after embracing a brand new and very different city (New York), after working and teaching in various US cities, he's come to regard Vermont as home. Medina reads several short poems including "El Tiempo en Una Semilla" (in Spanish); 'Canticle of the Moon in Vermont' and 'New Pastures.' He talks about how he moves between poetry, novels, memoir, essays and translation of greats poets like Virgilio Peneira, Rafael Alcide and novelist Alejo Carpentier, and his book on Federico Garcia Lorca "A Poet in New York" co-authored with poet Mark Stanton, to publish his many books of poetry and novels. He reflects on how imagery of his early life appears in his work and his feelings about the ongoing US embargo and 62-year estrangement between the US and Cuba. He discusses his first experiences at the Brattleboro Literary Festival and how he's looking forward to reading again on Sunday, October 20 at 12:30pm at 118 Elliot in Brattleboro and how delighted he's been by the dedicated readers and writers he's found in the Brattleboro area.