| Thursday, April 26, 2007 1:07PM | | | | A TRIBUTE TO PEDRO PIETRI | Posted By: Claudio Iván Remeseira
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| Tags: Pedro Pietri, Miguel Algarín, Anna Aguilar-Amat, Dionisio Cañas, David Castillo, Melcion Mateu, Urayoán Noel | Pedro Pietri (1944-2004) was (is) one of the greatest representatives of the Nuyorican poetry movement, arguably the most important contribution made by Puerto Rican Diaspora to US literature. The self-appointed Reverend of the Church of Our Lady of Tomatoes was a fixutre of Lower East Side's literary scene from the late 1960s until his death. Last night's tribute, organized by Institut Ramon Llul of Catalonia at the Nuyoricans Poets Café (of which Pietri was a founding member, alongside his pals Miguel Piñero and Miguel Algarín), fully lived up to Pietri's spirit.
Opening the night, legendary Miguel Algarín (last surviving founding member of the Café), read-performed a poem dedicated to his friend Pedro. Taking on the stage after him, Barcelona-born poet David Castillo, alma-pater of the homege, improvised a translation into Catalonian of Pietri's most famous poem, Puerto Rican Obituary. Even for those of us who don't understand Catalonian (a Romance language with links to Occitan or Provenzal, one of the oldest literary languages of Western Europe), Castillo's performance was disarmingly enchanting. The staccato succession of harsh syllables and bright open vowels was a powerful rendition of the straight-to-the-jaw punch of Pietri's words.
Both readings were out of program. Improvisation, surprise, linguistic code-switching: the very essence of Nuyorican poetry. (see Bud Parr's video at http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/roundtable2/)
TO BE CONTINUED | | | |
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