IN PERSON Afro-Cuban Poetry: From Myths and Memory to Social Transformation
One-Day Workshop | Wednesday, January 14, 2026 | 1pm-3pm MT
Instructor: Hebert Poll Gutierrez
MEMBER PRICE: $40.00
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $55.00
From myths and ancestral memory to community action: a workshop where Afro-Cuban poetry becomes strength, joy, and transformation.
Step into the vibrant world of Afro-Cuban poetry, where myth, memory, and identity converge to create a powerful force for social and cultural transformation. This workshop challenges the common stereotypes that confine Afro-Cuban poetry to the past or strictly religious themes. Instead, it celebrates resistance, joy, and Afro descendant identity, showing how ancestral memory and spirituality can be transformed into creativity, voice, and meaningful action.
Rooted in African traditions and intertwined with Cuban history, Afro-Cuban poetry reflects centuries of struggle against oppression, inequality, and racial discrimination. Its rhythm, oral tradition, and musicality make it a living, dynamic art form—one that sparks dialogue, strengthens identity, and inspires community engagement.
This class takes place in person at the Alexandra Writers Centre Society
Hebert Poll Gutierrez is a Cuban Canadian author, storyteller, poet, and playwright with 21 years of experience currently based in Calgary. He believes in the power of stories and theater to shape reality. Art is his strategy to defend his triple cultural identity: His identity as an artist, a Cuban, and Afro descendant.
Hebert has published nine books in several genres (poetry, theater, and short fiction). His latest books are:
Last Planet standing (Theater) Letra de Kmbio Publishers, France, 2023.
“Whispers from the Black Gods” (Poetry) The Elite Lizzard Publishing Company, Canada, 2022.
Some of his writings appear in magazines and more than 20 anthologies from Cuba, Venezuela, Canada, Spain, the United States, Mexico, Germany, and other countries. Companies from Latin America, Europe, and Canada have represented his theater scripts.
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