With a view to the 50th anniversary of the death of the Caribbean writer and the 60th anniversary of the publication of the novel “La Casa Grande”, the Universidad del Norte, from Barranquilla, begins an international cycle of study of the literary work of the closest friend of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The Universidad del Norte, in Barranquilla, with the support of the Cayena Art and Culture Directorate, inaugurated today, starting at 9:30 am, the Álvaro Cepeda Samudio Chair (CACS), a program that exalts the life and work of the Barranquilla writer and his influence on the transformation of Colombian literature. (We recommend: A chronicle by Cepeda Samudio on the island of San Andrés).
The chair, which is developed by the YouTube channel Uninorte Cultural, is divided into two days, bearing in mind that 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of this fundamental character for the Barranquilla culture: a fresh intellectual, who permeated all spheres of the art and culture of the Caribbean; and that it is also 60 years since the publication of La Casa Grande , one of the most important novels about the region.
As a writer, Cepeda Samudio is seen as one of the great transformers of Colombian literature in the twentieth century, moving it away from manners and giving it an original, urban and deeply Caribbean style. His book of stories T odos we were waiting, L os Cuentos de Juana and the novel L a Casa Grande stand out. He was a member of the Barranquilla Group and is considered by critics as one of the fathers of the Latin American Boom. The journalistic work helped him to define his style, in which sarcasm, malicious suggestions, passion for culture, and the defense of folklore not as an exhibition but as an expression of popular culture have been recognized. But he also experimented in the field of cinematography with a short film entitled L a Langosta Azul, of which he was an actor, screenwriter and producer. This approach to the cinema made him incorporate the cinematographic cut into his stories as a literary resource.
Toni Celia, director of Cayena, affirms that the initiative is an effort that begins in 2021, in order to establish itself as a university chair of rigor, not only to explore the life and work of Álvaro Cepeda but also the universe that informed and formed.
In addition, recently part of the personal library of the writer and journalist rests in the Karl C. Parrish Jr. Library, thanks to his widow, Teresa Manotas de Cepeda, known as Tita, who decided to donate it to the Universidad del Norte, in order to that this cultural and historical heritage be used by the community in general.
Follow the news of El Espectador on Google News“We are convinced that what Álvaro Cepeda Samudio meant in Barranquilla, his connection with the social, political and cultural reality of the Caribbean and the world is more relevant today than ever. We believe that analyzing and debating all its facets, from an academic and cultural perspective, is just our grain of sand so that its figure has a much broader resonance within young and non-young people who are interested in the cultural and social processes of the Caribbean ” Celia concluded.
Programming and guests CACS 9:30 am: Del Caribe Emerges: The Caribbean in Álvaro Cepeda Samudio’s Work
Dr. Catalina Quesada-Gómez, University of Miami Ph.D. and Master’s Degree in Hispano-American Literature from the University of Seville in Spain. She has been a professor at several universities in Spain, France, Switzerland, Colombia and Nicaragua. His teaching and research interests include 20th and 21st century Latin American literature and culture, particularly contemporary Colombian narrative, globalization and cultural production, neo-baroque, and Mexican and Cuban studies.
11:00 am: As if time was spinning round and round and we had gone back to the beginning
Dr. Fabio Rodríguez Amaya (University of Bergamo) Painter and writer born in Bogotá, naturalized in Italy. Master in Fine Arts from the National University of Colombia, with a doctorate in Philosophy and Letters from the University of Bolonia. Professor of Ibero-American Literatures at the University of Bergamo.
4:00 pm: From the page to the screen: Juana had golden hairs In this discussion we will have the presence of Pacho Bottia, a well-known scriptwriter and director of fiction feature films; Jaime Abello Banfi, Director of the Gabo Foundation; and Alfredo Sabbagh, Television Producer Master in Theory and Practice of Creative Documentary.
5:15 pm: The formative years: Launch of the new book in the Yellow Roble collection of Editorial Uninorte
In this talk we will be accompanied by Tita de Cepeda, widow of Cepeda Samudio; Julio Olaciregui, writer and journalist; and Adolfo Meisel Roca, rector.
