Abstract

Ernesto Cardenal, former Minister of Culture of Nicaragua and recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, began painting, wood carving, and poetry workshops on Solentiname—an archipelago of 36 islands and 1,000 people—in the mid-1960s as part of his developing an artistic and contemplative community among sustenance farmers and fishing families. Forty years later, he continues to spend time on the islands and the church he built there, and holding poetry workshops as recently as January 2008. These poems are from young people who participate in the community poetry workshops.