«Writing is, for me, a profound necessity,» confesses the writer and teacher.

If any poet and essayist deserves more attention from critics, it is Alberto Rodríguez Copa; his many awards and publications merit it. Born in 1963 in Palma Soriano, he found his literary nest in Encrucijada, guided by the wise hand of Ileana Pérez González, an advisor who had the gift of discovering each of the already renowned writers of this municipality.

The then Carlos Loveira literary workshop had become the ideal space for the novel pedagogue (who graduated in Philology from the Universidad de Oriente in 1986) to find the means to make his first texts known. From that period, the recent winner of the Ismaelillo 2024 Prize, awarded by the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, and Master in Communicative Teaching of Language and Literature, recalls:

«I was educated in the exercise of sincere criticism, sometimes implacable, but necessary. I learned to get rid of the petulance of the novice who thinks his work is untouchable. I learned that it is infinitely better to listen to others than to myself, and to focus on the flaws of the text rather than on its successes. I acquired the habit of the eternal non-conformist, who never considers a poem, an essay, etc., as finished».

But Rodríguez Copa, who has tasted the sweetness of success, backed by more than 12 awards, mainly in the children’s genre, what he enjoys most are his teaching spaces, as he has managed to turn his Spanish and Literature classes into a true workshop of living language and appreciation of literary works and art in general.

However, when he graduated, his dream was different: «I studied to dedicate myself to linguistic and literary research; but, as there was a shortage of teachers in some provinces, I was assigned to teach in Ceballos, in Ciego de Ávila. When I entered a classroom for the first time as a teacher, I had no idea what it was going to be like: I was terrified. Then I discovered that this was my vocation, without knowing it, and I have never wanted to do anything else.

Copa is the poet of silence. He manages, in the midst of a suitable family environment, to escape from the everyday world and enter that other world where fables, imagination and adventure allow him to explore the most diverse themes, to please those young readers who are anxiously searching for the paths to life and happiness.

It is not difficult to understand, then, the reasons he has for taking the risk of winning applause or silence in response: «Writing is, for me, a deep need. I don’t know if that’s what they call inspiration. Perhaps I have not ceased to be that young man who found in literature the most beautiful way, among all possible ways, of communicating with his fellow men».

Today, the teacher at the Miguel de la Guardia pre-university in the municipality of Encrucijada, does not differentiate the resonance of any of the prizes won or titles published, because they are all the result of long days of writing and proofreading, of insomnia and hope; they all have their fatigue and their joys.

However, awards such as the David (2001), the White Rose (2003) or the Rabindranath Tagore International Poetry Prize (2023), together with the fact of winning the Uneac prize for the second time, give him faith and optimism.

«Far from meaning a return to a result I have already obtained and which runs the risk of becoming repetitive, it is for me a great recognition, an enormous joy, and a renewed commitment to the rigour of writing, as the only possible form of respect for the reader». (Author Amador Hernández Hernández )