Canadian Poetry; Wet Ink Books; Canada; Canadian Literature; publishing; www.WetInkBooks.com; Devour; Devour: Art & Lit Canada; Find all of our mags; “Devour” and “The Ambassador” –www.issuu.com/richardgrove1/stacks/bc11ecdd1e7646c4b1fac2bb7aef11ef
 

 

John B. Lee

 

 
Canadian Poetry; Hidden Brook Press; Canada; Canadian Literature; publishing; www.hiddenbrookpress.com; Devour; Devour: Art & Lit Canada; Find all of our mags; “Devour” and “The Ambassador” –www.issuu.com/richardgrove1/stacks/bc11ecdd1e7646c4b1fac2bb7aef11ef
 

 

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Island on the Wind‑Breathed Edge of the Sea, is a collection of poetry by, arguably, one of Canada’s finest living People’s Poets, John B. Lee. After numerous literary awards, 50 books and many trips to Cuba this is Lee’s first full collection of Cuba poems. They are the perceptions, perspectives and reflections on the Cuban landscape, its peoples, the sounds and sights, the sea and the wind and how they all fold into a poetic experience. These poems will bring you closer to the real Cuba than any guide or travel book could possibly do. This is one of John B. Lee’s finest books.

 

From the Forward:

 

In the winter of 1992, my family and I flew to Santiago de Cuba and travelled from there by bus in the dark hours of a Caribbean night to our final destination at Marea del Portillo, a resort near the remote rural mountain community of Manzanillo.  That year we woke to the sound of lean sows rooting the beaches, crossed paths with free‑range roosters strutting the jungle trails and discovered tame horses grazing the hills.  We feasted on fish and pork with the strong scent of guava wafting up from supper tables heavy laden with ripe fruit.  We drank cold beer and sipped iced mango by the pool.    Every morning we were greeted by pyramids of hard‑boiled eggs and rashers of Cuban bacon.  It wasn’t until many years later that we learned how hard things were for the Cuban people after the collapse of the Soviet Union. We were told that, during what became known as Athe starving year@, every Cuban citizen lost on average twenty pounds due to a combination of galloping inflation and an overall shortage of essential resources.

 

Since that first visit, I have had the privilege and pleasure of returning to Cuba on three subsequent occasions.  On each ensuing journey the conditions of the island have been much improved.  In 2006 my wife and I journeyed to a resort near Guardalavaca, close to Cuba=s second‑largest city, Holguin.  Then in 2007 and again in 2008, we stayed at Hotel Tropicoco, a Russian‑built resort located twenty minutes by bus from the capital city of Havana.   On all three occasions we traveled as a small delegation of authors representing a Canadian contingent of the >Canada‑Cuba Literary Alliance,= an international organization founded by Richard (Tai) Grove and his Cuban friend, language‑professor/ translator/ author Manuel Velázquez León.

 

Little wonder then that the muses of Cuba have inspired my work.  On the occasion of the first visit, I wrote a series of poems included herein under the title >Cuban Journey.’  This set of poems, first published in Matrix magazine, and published again in my book, Never Hand Me Anything If I Am Walking or Standing, won Matrix Magazine’s >Travel Writing Award,’ in 1994.

 

Each return has resulted in writing.  The year my wife and I lodged near Guardalavaca, we met professor Manuel Velazquez Leon, who translated several of my poems into Spanish.  Bilingual versions were featured in an issue of CCLA’s journal, The Ambassador.  On that visit I read poetry in English and Spanish in a courtyard in Holguin along with fellow‑Canadians Tai Grove and  Ken Mitchell and three Cuban poets.  That magical late‑afternoon reading followed by dinner at an authentic Cuban restaurant remains an apotheosis of sorts for me as a poet.

 

In 2007, and then again in 2008, we stayed near Havana and made excursions into the city to read poetry, tour, and break bread with Cuban authors.  Our first visit to the Canadian embassy included an hour‑long chat with the ambassador.  We also participated as readers in the Latin‑American Book Fair at the old fort across the bay from the city.  In 2008 we returned to the book fair, read again at the university and the main library, where a highlight of our reading tour involved an audience of grade one students visiting the library as part of their literacy training. 

 

I hope to return to Cuba again to visit my friends and fellow‑writers, and to partake of the generous and open‑hearted hospitality of a people whose love for poetry and music is an example to the world. 

 
Canadian Poetry; Wet Ink Books; Canada; Canadian Literature; publishing; www.WetInkBooks.com; Devour; Devour: Art & Lit Canada; Find all of our mags; “Devour” and “The Ambassador” –www.issuu.com/richardgrove1/stacks/bc11ecdd1e7646c4b1fac2bb7aef11ef