Pablo Medina 10/16/24

PABLO MEDINA: RIVER OF WORDS
Host introduces acclaimed writer Pablo Medina, originally from Havana, Cuba, who now lives in Williamsville, Vermont near Brattleboro. Medina will be featured as part of the October 18-20, 2024 Brattleboro Literary Festival reading mostly from his new book of poetry “Sea of Broken Mirrors.”Medina reads ‘Home in Vermont,’ an essay he wrote specifically for the Brattleboro Words Trail. It describes how in 1960 at age 12, after leaving on the last plane out of Cuba in the midst of the Cuban Revolution, after embracing a brand new and very different city (New York), after working and teaching in various US cities, he’s come to regard Vermont as home.

Medina reads several short poems including “El Tiempo en Una Semilla” (in Spanish); ‘Canticle of the Moon in Vermont’ and ‘New Pastures.’ He talks about how he moves between poetry, novels, memoir, essays and translation of greats poets like Virgilio Peneira, Rafael Alcide and novelist Alejo Carpentier, and his book on Federico Garcia Lorca “A Poet in New York” co-authored with poet Mark Stanton, to publish his many books of poetry and novels. He reflects on how imagery of his early life appears in his work and his feelings about the ongoing US embargo and 62-year estrangement between the US and Cuba.

He discusses his first experiences at the Brattleboro Literary Festival and how he’s looking forward to reading again on Sunday, October 20 at 12:30pm at 118 Elliot in Brattleboro and how delighted he’s been by the dedicated readers and writers he’s found in the Brattleboro area.

Credits:

This episode of the Brattleboro Words Trail Podcast featured writer Pablo Medina who reads his essay ‘Home in Vermont’ written specifically for the Brattleboro Words Trail mobile app (https://brattleboro.stqry.app/) that guides listeners through stories of people past and present who embody the theme of ‘words’ throughout the Brattleboro area.

This episode was produced and hosted by me, Lissa Weinmann. and was edited by Alec Pombriant. We thank Pablo Medina for his participation as well as his suggestion that we use short clips of his favorite Cuban composer Leo Brouwer performed by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Humanities Council and the hundreds of volunteers and community members who support this work.

A ceramic marker in Williamsville representing Pablo will now be added to the beautiful Brattleboro Words Trail landscape murals created by local artist Cynthia Parker Houghton. You can see the murals on display at 118 Elliot in Downtown Brattleboro, but they will move to the town’s new Amtrak station in 2026. You can also see a video by producer Donna Blackney about the making of the murals at:

General information about maps, stories and the ongoing community creation of audio stories can be found at the Brattleboro Words Project website at: https://brattleborowords.org/