Lis was a literary, artistic and social magazine, founded, directed and designed by Nicolás Guillén Batista. It had an ephemeral existence of 18 numbers that were published during ten years. The first of them was published on January 10th, 1923. Its chief editor and administrator were Félix Nápoles and Pedro Toribio Cebrián. According to Villabella, Francisco Guillén was included as deputy director in the initial magazines.
The editorial office was located in Martí no. 32 (San Diego, old, Guillén’s residence) and the administration in Hospital no. 26 (Cebrian’s house). The subscription was fifty cents and monthly, in the case of loose twenty. It was printed in the El Popular typographical workshops, located at 14 El Solitario Street (present-day Santa Rita) and owned by his father’s friend, the journalist Oscar Padrón Loynaz.
In the “Preliminary Words” of its first issue, it clarifies its objectives and projections by pointing out that: “With the magazine we aspire to carry out a double task: to provide Camagüey once again with an organ that is a loving spokesperson for its highest virtues and contribute to the dissemination of culture and progress”.
On the other hand, José Armando Pla in an article, as Augier explains, welcomes the presence of the magazine in the limited Camagüey environment, praising the personality of the team, in particular the Guillén brothers.
Lis magazine sections
It had several fixed sections: Polytechnic Academy, The Tale of Lis, Scientific Talk, Jokes, Sports, Social Notes, Poetic Page, Postcard, Theater. Specifically in the Social Notes, small chronicles appeared in which references to orchestras, genres, instrumentalists and singers from Camagüey or guests from other provinces of the country were made. Most of them were black and mestizo musicians, belonging or not to the societies of this social group existing in the territory, but closely linked to the musical activities developed in them.
Particularly, among the recurrent musical groups of the patio in different numbers, the Camagüey Jazz Band orchestra of Alberto B. Noriega de Varona and Joseíto Gómez stood out.
Lis and the education and recreation associations
Since its very constitution, it had the support of companies such as Victoria, which lent the publication a small sum to cover the first expenses.
Now, of its sixteen pages, six were dedicated to black and mestizo educational and recreational associations. From them, it sought to become a platform for the dissemination of activities, and in this way contribute to the flourishing of an intellectual life in the members.
In the same way, it intended to raise the black and mestizo voices of the period. In this sense, its pages published articles of a social nature and literary works of various genres, figures of great importance in Camagüey such as: Félix Nápoles, Edmundo del Valls (Milla Chapellí), Tomás Vélez, Josefa Guillén, Abelardo Mola, among others. .
On the other hand, of the national poet, journalistic and literary texts appear. In terms of poetry are: Hoja de album, Corazón adentro, El último poeta, La Balada Azul.
Topics and other writers
Likewise, writers from other parts of the country appeared. Texts and poems by Martí, Mendive, Plácido, Julián del Casal were published. Some translations were made, for example, by Tagore. Its pages dealt with themes of: love, ethics, instruction, art, science, sports culture, humor, language, religion.
Advertisers of consultations, academies, services of the most important professionals of said social group were also shown.
Conclusions
However, since the last issue came out on June 30th, 1923, with the magazine Lis it was possible to observe not only the journalistic and literary vocation of a young Guillén, but also the vestiges of the greatness of Cuba’s national poet.
Bibliography
Augier, Ángel. Nicolás Guillén. Notas para un estudio biográfico crítico. Tomo I. Editora del Consejo Nacional de Universidades. Universidad Central de Las Villas, 1965.
Fernández Díaz, Verónica. La música en la revista “Lis”, dirigida por Nicolás Guillén. Blog Gaspar, El Lugareño. 9 de noviembre del 2021.
Henry Knight, Kezia Zabrina. La revista LIS y Nicolás Guillén. http://www.ohcamaguey.cu/la-revista-lis-y-nicolas-guillen/
Villabella, José Manuel. Guillén: Romance de Pueblo Viejo. Editorial Ácana. Camagüey, 2013.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
