To converse with Maritza Batista is to find oneself in front of a woman with a limpid soul, eloquent, exquisite diction, and a tender gaze that crosses all thresholds. I have fond memories of her, such as when I took my first steps in literature, more than 15 years ago. Together with the unforgettable Antonio Gutiérrez, who was her husband until his death and also my teacher at the Guillermo Vidal literary workshop, she lent me books and advised me on how best to follow the fascinating paths of the word.

That is why, knowing that the current edition of the Book and Literature Fair in Las Tunas is dedicated to her, along with Ernesto Carralero Bosch and Pablo Armando Fernandez (the latter on his 95th birthday), fills me with joy. She confesses that she did not expect it and that she even thought about not accepting, but “if they care enough to pay tribute to you, we can only thank them”.

Much could be said about Maritza and her long list of achievements. Mention, for example, the more than 15 books published, the mastery of several literary genres, her depth as a teacher and researcher, her concern for criticism and cultural promotion, the multiple awards, including the 2018 National Little Prince Award with her book Gaby in Paris, and other trips. But she is much more; she is a woman-poetry that wanders the city, as an open book, transmitting values and teachings.

- Maritza, what does literature mean to you?

It is a road to travel and to take advantage of. It lets you know how to walk and how to acquire values in life. Somehow, in whatever genre it is, it teaches you to differentiate, from the ethical and aesthetic point of view, what life, the world, a country, or a place can be.

- What advice would you give to the new generations of writers, especially to those who are just starting on this path?

The first piece of advice is to read. You have to read, you have to look for the resources with which you can make literature because in certain genres you have to use different techniques and resources than in others. Therefore, you have to know where you are going to move and where you want to go, to look for the most appropriate reading in correspondence with what you want to read. Be aware that you have to know about everything that exists, both from the space in which you find yourself and other spaces that may be near or far away.
Any writer has to be a reader first. A reader, a seeker, a researcher, a student of social groups, of families, of everything that can make up the world, the universe, what God has composed for men, and, therefore, in that same universe, the creator has to move.

- What does Las Tunas mean to Maritza?

Las Tunas has been the land that I have welcomed after my Villa Azul. It is the world that has made me know a different structure, in addition to localities, feelings, and values, that has made me know youth and childhood. Working with children, young people, writers, with the world itself, and even with your neighbors, who are also part of the world in which I live and bring to literature, that represents Las Tunas, my world.

- That this Fair has been dedicated to you must be a great joy...

Well, the news surprised me. This event can be dedicated to anyone since there are many valuable writers. But, I will not deny that it is gratifying to be recognized, it means that I have had a certain direction and certain achievements that - at the same time - are the achievements of many other writers.

It is a surprise that I had to assume at a time when I thought not to assume it and even -perhaps- to discard it, but if they care enough to pay tribute to you, we can only be grateful. In my case, I thank the friends who have accompanied me, my daughter and granddaughter, God, and my cousin Maricela, who has always been with me through thick and thin.

- Finally, what would be the most suitable Book and Literature Fair, what can't be missing from this event?

What should not be missing is precisely to be a promotional voice, to reach different places; to be in companies, institutions, and neighborhoods...; and to approach the public from its different sensibilities. For a fair to have value, it has to be linked to the people's voice, to feel it and have it as its own.

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And so the woman with the aroma of books returns to travel those roads that inhabit her, there, deep inside, in the heart of all her sleepless nights. The history of Las Tunas’ literature could never be written without mentioning her. Maritza is poetry incarnate, wonder, inspiring, and a good woman who deserves, simply, to transcend.