Fayad Jamis

Fayad Jamis: (1930–1987), one of Cuba’s most cosmopolitan intellectuals, he was a painter, graphic artist, acclaimed poet, author of eleven books of poetry, and recipient of the Casa de las Americas prize in 1962. His work has been translated into twenty languages and his paintings displayed in over one hundred individual and group exhibits in Cuba and abroad. Born in Zacatecas, Mexico, he came to Cuba with his family at age six. His death was untimely, of cancer, at age 57. The poems reproduced here are by permission of the late poet and of CENDA (Cuban Center of Author Rights).