- Yanelys Santos Nieves, director of the Provincial Book and Literature Centre in Ciego de Ávila, has departed, leaving behind a body of work built with tenacity, compassion, and love for letters.
Death, that inevitable and irremediable companion, has snatched from us another personality of our Avilanian culture. Yanelys Santos Nieves, graduate in History, writer, official and tireless cultural facilitator, has closed her eyes, leaving an indelible mark on those of us who were fortunate enough to know her and work by her side.
As director of the Provincial Book and Literature Centre, Yanelys took on the responsibility of sustaining Avilanian literary culture during one of the most complex periods the country has faced.
With scarce resources, with blackouts that challenge even the best-laid plans, with an imperial blockade that cuts short even dreams, she found a way to keep alive the encounters between authors and readers.
Only this year, due to the energy collapse shaking the country, the Book Fair could not be held; but in all previous years, it was Yanelys who bent wills, brought together allies and convinced those who doubted it was possible.
But perhaps the most singular legacy of Yanelys Santos Nieves was her gaze towards the most vulnerable. When many ignore or avoid those deprived of liberty, she chose to walk towards them.
The Prison Book Festival has in Yanelys not just an enthusiastic founder, but one of its most fervent promoters, persevering in the task of taking the written word where others dare not even go.
Activities such as «Write and Read», puppet shows designed for the sons and daughters of prisoners, exchanges with writers and book presentations were her way of demonstrating that culture has no walls that can stop it, and that one of the most praiseworthy works of mercy — visiting the imprisoned — can also be done with a book in hand.
On a personal level, Yanelys was a writer. She cultivated poetry and narrative, and her name appears in the anthology Cuba in Microfiction II, a work of international recognition where she left ten stories that show the density of her talent.
A member of the El Rincón de los Cronopios literary workshop, she leaves behind an unfinished body of work that hopefully one day will find its rightful place within Avilanian letters.
Voices of grief were quick to rise. From the El Rincón de los Cronopios literary group, Pacheco expressed: «A posthumous and simple tribute to our Yanelys. In this internationally recognised anthology, ten stories by Yanelys appear, showcasing her talent as a writer.»
For his part, Larry Morales, on behalf of the provincial branch of the Nicolás Guillén Foundation, noted: «The memory of Yanelys will remain in every book published by Ediciones Ávila, at every fair, at every literary event.»
This third Friday of Lent — a liturgical time of prayer, fasting and charity — also saw the departure of Roberto Bullón Domínguez, a distinguished musicologist, teacher and researcher of music in Ciego de Ávila, author of a work published in two volumes by Ediciones Ávila.
Both left on the same day, marked by reflection on the ephemeral and the eternal, reminding us that from dust we come and to dust all returns.
Writer Massiel Mateos found the words many were searching for:
A free bird has left us,
free of chains and of flight,
a bird who was telling
each friend her dreams.
She divined fortune, the stumble, and the mysteries.
She was divining us all,
the strange spells.
The free bird today escapes to the truth of the skies
And leaves in our eyes
drizzles of love and times.
Friend, colleague, cultural manager and poet: Yanelys Santos Nieves flew free, as she always lived. Rest in peace.
