On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth and the tenth anniversary of his death, the Embassy of Colombia, Casa América and the Instituto Cervantes are organising a tribute to the Colombian novelist and poet Álvaro Mutis, tomorrow Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Miguel de Cervantes and Oscar Niemeyer Rooms of the American diplomatic centre. Free admission until full capacity is reached.
When Álvaro Mutis brought together the bulk of his work in two volumes, one for poetry and the other for narrative, he chose two titles inextricably linked by a singular kinship: the eleven collections of poetry were collected in Summa de Maqroll el Gaviero and the seven novels in Empresas y tribulaciones de Maqroll el Gaviero. In this way, the mysterious adventurer of uncertain origin who appears, disappears and reappears in all the books of the great Colombian writer gives his rich literary production a surprising unity. Thus, from the first poems of Los elementos del desastre to the last prose of Tríptico de mar y tierra are visited or touched in some way by the endearing presence of Maqroll el Gaviero, one of the most original characters in contemporary Spanish-American literature.
The programme of the event will consist of a dialogue and subsequent concert. The first will be opened by Enrique Ojeda, Director General of Casa de América; Luis García Montero, Director of the Instituto Cervantes, and Eduardo Ávila Navarrete, Ambassador of Colombia in Spain. Pilar Reyes, director of the literary division of the Penguin Random House group, and Juan Manuel Roca, poet, will also take part.
The concert will feature the group Como era en un principio, made up of Ana María Fonseca Núñez (voice and artistic direction), Juan Camilo Araoz (baroque guitar), Juan Miguel Sossa (tiple and bandola llanera) and Sebastián Villanueva (cuatro and percussion), who will perform the pieces Danzas españolas para guitarra barroca, Tono humano del Siglo de Oro, Villancico del Archivo de la Catedral de Bogotá and Romance y danza de la tradición oral colombiana.
