Otto Fernández
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Otto Fernández was born in 1934, in Regla, in Havana. He began studies of Civil Law at the University of Havana, interrupted when this study center closed its classrooms in the midst of the fight against the Batista tyranny. He collaborated in the anti-Batista fight. After the triumph of the Revolution, he carried out different tasks and responsibilities: official of the Ministry of Finance, chief of income analysis of Havana, and, later, Secretary of the Local Power of Old Havana. In 1969 he was appointed Director of Publications and of the Revista Unión, magazine of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. In the Contest for unpublished writers of the Mella weekly he won the first prize, thus initiating the publication of poems in Cuban and foreign magazines and compilations.
In 1964 he published his book of poems Los dias repartios, then the following collections of poems: From another tree (1979), Without wanting (1984), and in Guadalajara, Mexico, I roll to dark water (1993). His verses have been translated into Polish, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Czech, Slovak, Swedish, French, Hungarian. In 1973 he received the Cyril and Methodius decoration from the Bulgarian State Council. He also received other international decorations and national distinctions. He cultivated drawing, having exhibited in personal and collective exhibitions in Havana, and has published illustrations in national and foreign magazines. Despite his great activity, Elíseo Diego writes in the prologue of another tree: "... a determined desire to serve his country has made it difficult for him to systematically carry out a work that we would not hesitate to place among the most significant of young poetry. Cuban.” Since 1984 this work already exists, although the poet has only published two new books.
For this bilingual edition we have also been able to use his unpublished manuscripts. National criticism places him in the so-called Generation of 50, the first poetic generation of the Cuban Revolution. Critics point out that the clearest influence among the poets of this generation is that of César Vallejo.
In the case of Otto Fernández we must mention another name, that of Federico García Lorca. This is not a direct and superficial influence. There is a deep kinship between the Andalusian poet and the Cuban poet. As if Federico García Lorca were resurrected in another being born in Regla.