Iconic poet and writer Francisco Azuela, born on March 8, 1948 in León, Guanajuato, México passed away on April 1 this year
By Ashraf Aboul-Yazid
The iconic world poet Francisco Azuela Espinoza has been mourned in a message by his son, Tristan Azuela, in Mexico. The message has been addressed to friends and fellow poetry lovers around the world:
“With the deepest pain in my heart, I allow myself to share with you some news that I never imagined I would have to write. My father, Francisco Azuela Espinoza, that man of letters who dedicated his entire life to poetry, is no longer with us. He passed away on April 1, 2024, and his departure has left an irreparable void, not only in our lives, but in the universe of words that he knew how to sculpt with such dedication, love, and sensitivity. To this day, we have the strength to check his emails and find so many beautiful people, friends, and colleagues who shared the life of poetry with him.”
I received Tristan’s message with real sorrow, in a time I was waiting for the annual book gift, he used to send me, with his latest poems, publications and achievements.
Tristan wrote: “For 76 years, my father was more than a poet; he was a beacon of inspiration, a voice that sought beauty in the everyday, in the sublime, in the depths of human experience. His work is his legacy, an indelible testimony of his life and his inexhaustible passion for art. These verses that so many of you have read, shared and enjoyed, now become his immortality, an echo that we hope will resonate forever in the hearts of those who knew him and in those who have not yet had the opportunity to discover his greatness.”
He continued: “As his firstborn son, I had the honor of accompanying him on this literary journey. Many times, he relied on me to take his work to new horizons and expand its impact. Today, that mission falls into my hands, and with an immense sense of responsibility, I commit to continue his work, to continue sharing his poetry, his soul made into words, so that his legacy remains alive in history.”
Mr. Tristan has asked the late poet’s friends to send any suggestion, idea or plan that helps preserve and spread the testimony of this great poet that will be deeply appreciated. He thanked us in advance for the support, the displays of affection and solidarity that we always gave him, and that at this time mean so much to his family; “Any press release that you would be kind enough to issue will be well considered to spread to the world that the Poet Francisco Azuela is no longer with us. With eternal gratitude and the desire to continue honoring his memory, Mtro. Tristan Azuela”.
Poet Francisco Azuela Espinoza has been one of the regular contributors in the Silk Road Literature Anthology. His imagination was so rich, and his thoughts were rich to cover all topics he sang for.
In 2022, he wrote to me:
“Dear brother and great poet Ashraf Aboul-Yazid Ashraf-Dali, I send you with the greatest pleasure a little poem of mine, my biography and a photo for your next publication Africa, The Silk Road Anthology 2023, which will be a great success like the previous ones, illuminating the world of poetry of our time. Receive my congratulations and a big hug with my affection and my friendship. Francisco Azuela (Mexico-Bolivia)”
Francisco Azuela was born on March 8, 1948 in León, Guanajuato, México. He was writer and poet. He served as a diplomat in the Mexican Embassy in Costa Rica and later in Honduras (1973–1983). Azuela comes from an artistic family of some renown: his great uncle was Mariano Azuela, author of one of the most celebrated novels of the Mexican Revolution, Los de abajo (The Underdogs). The poet Azuela is Ambassador of Poets of the world; of the World Poetry Prize Nosside Italia of the World and of peace, winner of Solenzara International Poetry Grand Prize, Université de la Sorbonne, Paris, France 2013, Vincitori Assoluti ex aequo XXXV Premio Mondiale di Poesia Nosside Italy 2020 and Nobel Prize Literature nomination 2021.
He also contributed to our Next News Network, The AsiaN, and his latest articl
e was a literary piece on his late mother:
“The afternoon stretches on the horizon of life until it is more than one hundred years old; the sunset of this day is felt in the slow rhythm of the train that passes by with multiple images of time, from window to window, where the cornfields and the wheat fields can be seen under the clouds loaded with a much-anticipated rain that is approaching.
In that train travels the face of a human being who transformed love into more than one star, a cluster of stars, her children, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The old mother forged many destinies and fused her blood with the leaves of the wind scattered in different latitudes, all united by the same symbol of love.
Flocks of birds and other types of animals can also be seen drinking in small lagoons and on the water’s edges of different rural communities, where the trees provide good shade and the weeping willows bend their branches to shelter wild animals.
Read: Nikolai Zagrekov, the Artist of Two Countries: Beauty will save the world
In a long journey of years on a train or on several trains, everything passes, time passes, hours pass, the wounds of grief, pain and sorrows are felt; but also the great joys and love that erase the tears of bad and sad moments that go like dried fruits to oblivion.
The afternoon stretches on the horizon of life until it is more than one hundred years old; the sunset of this day is felt in the slow rhythm of the train that passes by with multiple images of time, from window to window, where the cornfields and the wheat fields can be seen under the clouds loaded with a much-anticipated rain that is approaching.
Numerous terraces and rustic houses can also be seen through the windows of a train; barns and barns where people store their crops.
The family grows, families grow and become intense in thought, in life, in dreams. Everything multiplies in various manifestations and the soul is reflected in the mirror with the beautiful smiles of children who play and entertain themselves in their beautiful innocence. The songs are heard with a rhythm of hope. Women, men and children are animated by the same thought: life is beautiful.
Large flower crops touch your heart. This was our mother, María Esperanza de los Dolores Espinosa Hernández de Azuela. That is why we remember her today with all our love one hundred and two years after she came into this life.”
Read: The language is our Homeland – Ismaël Diadié Haïdara
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Ashraf Aboul-Yazid is a renowned Egyptian poet, journalist, novelist, travelogue writer and translator. He is author of around three dozen books and Editor-in-Chief of Silk Road Literature Series.
