Literary Birthday – 7 August – Nancy Morejón

Happy Birthday, Nancy Morejón, born on 7 August 1944.

Nancy Morejón Quotes

1. We have lots of workshops, but I don’t think you can ever teach someone to write. You can help improve a person’s writing, but if someone is going to become a writer, that person has to do it on their own.
2. I trust inspiration, but I also trust craft. I may have two or three lines, but a poem grows because of a technique that I have worked on. You need that, and you need reading. It’s like having a laboratory where you put your poem. That’s it.
3. Work—you have to work. Sometimes I don’t make drafts. The poems just arrive. Other times I make five versions, or ten, or even more. Then I run away from the poems I’ve written. I don’t like to read them again.
4. I write poems on the computer because these things come. I’m always quoting Hemingway. Hemingway used to say that inspiration comes when you are working. I don’t wait for it. But reading—even reading—is work, and it is your food.
5. As you get older, you realise how far away your childhood is. The past is always there. My writing is always a source of support, a breath of fresh air. If I feel bad, I write, and I heal. It is healthy for me. I never see my writing as something that is going to make me money. I write without ever thinking about the market.

Source for quotes: Poetry Flash

Nancy Morejón is a Cuban poet, essayist, critic, translator, and teacher whose work has made her an influential voice in contemporary Latin American literature. In 2001, she became the first Black woman to receive Cuba’s National Prize for Literature, one of the country’s highest literary honours. Her poetry explores the history, mythology, and identity of the Cuban nation, with a particular focus on the experiences and cultural heritage of Afro-Cubans. Blending political themes with intimate reflections on family, memory, love, and identity, Morejón’s writing is celebrated for its lyrical beauty and social insight. Among her collections is With Eyes and Soul: Images of Cuba. Her work has been translated into numerous languages, including English, French, German, Portuguese, Galician, Russian, and Macedonian, introducing her voice to readers around the world.

Source for photograph: Smith College

by Amanda Patterson
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