Mexico mourns seminal poet Raúl Renán

A native of the southeastern state of Yucatán, Raúl Renán was born in the capital city of Mérida in 1928 and was considered an experimenter and innovator of the Mexican letters of the second half of the 20th century.

A graduate of the Modern Letters from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Raúl Renán organized literary workshops, became an editor and created the poetry collection Fósforos, “Matches” as well as the Ensayo, “Essay”, magazine. He founded La Máquina Eléctrica, “Electric Machine”, Publishing House and was a writer for the literary section of many cultural supplements of Mexican daily newspapers.

Renán was a recipient of many literary awards and the Experimental Poetry Prize Raúl Renán was created after him in 1998 in Mérida. He also served as a deputy director of UNAM’s Poetry Magazine.

Above all, Raúl Renán mentored generations of Mexican poets and writers by instilling his acute vision and pioneering instinct in both his letters and his overall literary practice.

In 2012, on the 

occasion

of an homage he received in the Fine Arts Palace in downtown Mexico City, the visual artist Eko noted that Renán was considered a “visual poet” for his pattern poetry series or

caligramas

and was certainly a reformer of the poetic text of the second half of the 20th century. At that time, Renán stated that all writers want to underline the beauty of the Spanish language, thus they “continue working with it mercilessly.”

Below the opening lines of Poema del poema "Poem on a poem" found at digital literature magazine Círculo de poesía, "Poetry Circle", at circulodepoesia.com:

The author of over 30 books, among them unparalleled poetry works Gramática Fantástica,“Fantastic Grammar”, and Viajero en sí mismo, “Traveller in oneself” remains a seminal poetic and narrative voice of contemporary letters in Mexico.

Mexican poets, writers

, and cultural authorities have expressed their dismay for the loss of Raúl Renán, among them Minister of Culture, María Cristina García, who posted a message

on

her

Twitter

account, “Rigorous with words, virtuous poetic voice, teacher of various generations of writers. I regret the death of Raúl Renán.”

Riguroso de la palabra, virtuosa voz poética, maestro de varias generaciones de escritores. Lamento el deceso de Raúl Renán.

— Ma Cristina García C (@mcristina_gc) 14 de junio de 2017

[Otra pérdida irreparable para nuestra literatura.

RIP Raúl Renán (1928-2017), querido maestro en el arte de la poesía y la generosidad.] pic.twitter.com/4aUZx48okP

— El hombre de tweed (@Elhombredetweed) 14 de junio de 2017

writer,

Manuel Iris wrote, “Grim morning: Teacher Raúl Renán has passed away.”

Triste mañana: Ha muerto el maestro Raúl Renán.

— Manuel Iris (@manueliris65) 14 de junio de 2017