2010 is the centenary of the birth of one of Spain’s best known poets who just happens to have been born right in our area in the city of Orihuela. He was born into a poor family but with the help of a local vicar he became familiar with classical authors such as Miguel de Cervantes as well as modern writers such as Juan Ramón Jiménez.
At the age of 21 he went to Madrid to try to and establish a literary career but was forced to return home when his money ran out. It didn’t stop him trying again a number of times over the next two years. His first book was published when he was just 23 and his first play the following year.
Now that he was no longer an unknown he returned to Madrid in 1934 where he became friends with writers such as García Lorca, Pablo Neruda, Luis Cernuda, and many others. His career as a writer developed rapidly. He worked with Neruda on the publication of the influential journal, Caballo Verde para la Poesía, and became involved with a group of writers supporting the Republican cause. In 1936 he published El rayo que no cesa (Unceasing Lightning). In 1937, he married his boyhood sweetheart, Josefina Manresa. They had a son, Manuel Ramón, in 1937, but he died in less than one year.
During the Spanish Civil War, Hernández served in the Republican Army. He depicted the horror of the war in much of his subsequent work, including Viento del pueblo (1937) and El Hombre acecha (1938). In 1939 while trying to flee to Portugal, he was arrested by the Guardia Civil and imprisoned in Madrid. While in prison, he continued to write. After his influential friends secured his release, Hernández returned briefly to Orihuela before again being arrested. While in prison, he contracted tuberculosis. For the next three years, Hernandez wrote what many consider to be his most important poems. He died on March 28, 1942, while still in prison. On the wall next to his cot, he wrote his final poem: "Farewell, brothers, comrades, friends: Give my goodbyes to the sun and the wheat fields."
There will be a number of events to celebrate the life and work of the poet and you can visit the museum dedicated to his life in Orihuela. See this website for more details (Spanish) http://www.miguelhernandezvirtual.es/xml/
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