Baracoa, January 31
- The writer Amanda Hale has built a bridge between the small
Canadian island called
Hornby
and our
archipelago.
This bridge brought her to Baracoa and showed her how
tempting
could be the coming back. Here she visits, works and finds a
spiritual refuge that makes her consider the First Village a
place without equal in Cuba. Radiobaracoa.cu wanted to discover
these nuances.
It is strange to see a Canadian writer talking about her book in
Baracoa. How was this possible?
"I have been visiting Baracoa with regularity since three years
ago and to my luck, I recently had the opportunity to distribute
some copies of my second novel The
reddening path
translated into Spanish among several schools and friends I met
during and after one of the International Book Fairs held here.
One of those friends is Elexis
Fernández
Rubio, who had the idea of making a literary gathering in the
municipal art gallery to talk about the book I mentioned. "
What was your impression about the meeting?
"For me it was a wonderful night because I felt a sincere
interest from the people who attended. We talked a lot about the
central theme of the novel, the search for identity, with much
empathy and understanding. Besides, I felt again that the story
is more appropriate for Latin readers. "
By the way, the
main character
of The... path finds her essence in the land of
her cultural roots. Why did you want it to be in that way?
"This novel is the story of a Guatemalan, Pamela, who was
adopted as a child by a Canadian couple. Pamela returns to her
country in search of her biological mother, and also with the
aim of researching for her studies of Latin American history.
There she goes into the personality of the Spanish conqueror
Hernán Cortés and his translator Malinche; in the meaning of the
link between a European and that indigenous woman; the blood
mixture represented by their son, Martin; and the introduction
of a foreign culture in the place that was later named Mexico.
That’s how, in some way, the novel is the representation of many
children and young people who were uprooted from their nations
and cultures worldwide in the last 35 years. I am very pleased
with the reception of the book in Latin America. "
Is your novel based on a real story?
"No, although there are many people with similar stories."
How did you feed to write about the topic of the "uprooted"?
“For many years I had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala,
Mexico, Nicaragua and many other places after I worked and
exchanged with many refugees from Chile, El Salvador, and
particularly from Guatemala when I lived in Toronto in the
1980s. From them I learned about the history of their countries,
which is very sad, and concerning Guatemala I began to
understand that what happened there is more or less what
happened in all Latin American countries and other parts of the
world which have suffered or suffer the intention of foreign
forces of taking advantage from their lands. Another reason for
choosing the theme of my book is its universality, because I
know that man always has an identity crisis during the
adolescence. I've seen people who have adopted children from
China, India, and I think how hard it is for them to struggle
for identity, because they don’t know their origins. "
How was the book received in Canada?
"It is very successful there; it is being used as study material
in a children’s school in the province of Nova Scotia and it
will be used for a similar purpose next fall at the University
of Toronto as part of the Latin American history program. But
Canada is a multicultural country, like a mixture of people from
all communities very different to what you can find, for
example, in Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico and Panama, where they have
reacted with a strong sense of identity towards my book.”
At the gathering you talked about a third volume you are
preparing. Could you disclose something about it?
"My third book is called My sweet curiosity (
Mi
dulce curiosidad)
and I plan to publish it in September. It addresses the present
and the Renaissance in Europe in two parts, drawing on themes of
science, medicine and music intertwined through the characters
of two college students with different academic backgrounds who
live in Toronto.
The historical part is highlighted with the figure of Andreas
Vesalius, the anatomist who first succeeded in making a map of
the human body.
In the European renaissance they believed that the soul was a
vital organ of the body and there was even the intention of
finding it. It was believed to be behind the neck. "
In your second book prevails the search for identity. What
prevails in this newly coming book?
"Curiosity is part of my personality, and the title of my third
volume is a reference to the soul. We enter the world without
knowing what awaits us. Some people enjoy a lot, and others
suffer torture and even unbearable things, but with an inner
strength that is an appetite for life and a hope for what might
happen the next time. "
Is there any relationship between the three books?
"The issue of blood."
Why are you so impressed by blood?
"Because blood is life. In The reddening path blood is an
outbreak of pain. There's a part that tells of a dream the main
character has and which comes back once and again to describe
the slaughter of a Guatemalan village which happens to be the
slaughter of the people of her mother, who Pamela does not know.
Only a three or four years old girl who goes out of the field
with bloodied feet survives.
"My first book,
Sounding the blood,
suggests blood from the title itself. It is a
story based in 1915 in a remote whaling station in northern
Canada, where many hunters from Norway, China and Japan worked
in the processing of the bodies of the cetaceans.
"I sympathize with the suffering of people around the world; now
look what the Israelis did with the Palestinians. We can not do
anything to prevent it, but I think it is very important to talk
about these things, and find a positive side to revive. "
Baracoa has an indirect relationship with The reddening path...
"The relationship of The reddening path and Baracoa is
through Hernán Cortés when he was in Cuba. Only after I had
written the book I knew from several publications that Cortés
did lived in Baracoa first when the village was the capital, and
marries the native Juanita
Suárez.
Then he lives with her in the house Diego Velázquez had in
Santiago de Cuba, from where he leaves with his men and looks
for reinforcements in Trinidad for the conquest of Mexico. About
the stay of the future invader in Santiago there is in this book
an episode with him and his wife. "
According to your words at the beginning of this interview, your
link with Cuba goes beyond any relationship between the city and
writing the book we are talking about.
"My ties with Cuba also include visual art. I first came in 2002
invited by my friend Lynn Hutchinson, from Toronto, to paint a
mural. The work was 20 feet wide by 12 high and is reflected in
the lobby of the venue of Marianao’s Popular Power in Havana. In
subsequent visits to Havana, Lynn, other friends and I did an
installation and an exhibition of large drawings at the
Guayasamín House, besides working with the project
Muraleando,
a group of artists in the Diez de Octubre municipality.
And your relationship with the First Village, how did it start?
"I knew of Baracoa from the visit of a folk group of very
talented dancers called Bararrumba to my country. I saw them act
and I was very impressed. I went to see the group in a second
tour they made to Canada, I began to wonder where Baracoa was to
visit it and in one of my trips to Cuba, in 2006, I traveled 21
hours on a bus from Havana to get here. My idea was to stay in
the city for two days and then visit several Cuban provincial
capitals, but my stay coincided with the International Book Fair
in Baracoa and I just left here to return to Havana via
Santiago. "
Baracoa seems to attract you ...
"This is a place with a lot of inspiration power. Its geography,
artists, musicians, writers and the creativity in the community
are very special. Besides, I put my experiences in the city into
very short stories right here, as I do with the experiences at
the Cuban capital. "
How do you write when you are in this town?
"The past two winters I came here for three months with my
Laptop computer. I write directly on it from 8 in the morning
until 2 in the afternoon. Then I go out to talk and visit. "
What prevails in this enjoyment- work relationship?
"Work. I have done research on Cuban culture, which I love, and
it is very complex for me. Only now, in my eighth visit, I begin
to understand it. "
What would you be interested in highlighting about Baracoa?
"The daily life of the people, the position of the city within
Cuba, because for me Baracoa is a small country separated from
the rest of the country. Your culture is different to the rest
of the people from the East and Havana, although the identity
and the struggle to preserve it from those who want to
"assimilate" other peoples´ culture for their convenience are
the same. Cuba is the world's strongest example of triumph over
the ruling powers. Some day I would like to be able to write so
that people out of the country could understand better what
happens inside it. "
What is Baracoa today in your life?
"A very quiet place, like a shelter where I work very well. I've
traveled a lot and for me and other people it is a land with
magnetism. "
So, we will see you here again ...
"I will always come back. Getting here is not easy, it requires
a strong determination, but Baracoa is the most special part of
Cuba for me. "
