MEXICO CITY — While examining the photographic archive left behind by Nobel Prize-winning Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, one of his granddaughters came across a mysterious plastic box with the word “grandchildren” written on its label .
At first, Emilia Garcia Elizondo was afraid to open the box, but curiosity got the better of her. Inside were 150 unpublished letters he had received from Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, former US President Bill Clinton, Cuban President Fidel Castro and actor Robert Redford, among others.
Forty of the letters are on display for two months at the colonial home in the southern Mexican capital where Marquez lived with his wife, Mercedes Barcha, from the 1980s until his death in 2014.
The exhibition is part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. Another event, which includes the exhibit “Gabriel Garcia Marquez: The Creation of a Global Writer,” opens today at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City.
“I’m 32 and all of this continues to impress me,” Elizondo, director of the Marquez Foundation, told The Associated Press, describing her shock at finding the box in a cupboard on the second floor of her parents’ home. Grand parents. lodge. She had walked past the cabinet several times without paying much attention.
Marquez’s granddaughter said the find came as a surprise to the family as they believe all of her personal letters and correspondence were in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, which has the largest collection of documents. of the writer.
“You never expect to find this kind of thing even if you already know who Gabo is…I will always think that Gabo does everything like magic,” she said. Marquez is affectionately known in Latin America as Gabo.
Among the letters that will be on display are five from Castro, one from Neruda, two from Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes, two from Mexican guerrilla leader Subcomandante Marcos, one from Redford, one from director Woody Allen and seven from Clinton.
In one, dated December 28, 1999, Clinton tells the Colombian writer of the emotion he and his wife, Hillary, felt during a concert of Colombian Vallenato music given by young people at the Maison White. He described the music as a “treasure” and a “wonderful counterpoint to the negative images often associated with your beautiful country”.
Also included is a handwritten letter Castro, dated Dec. intention to continue to be useful to the revolution. .”
Gonzalo Garcia Barcha, the writer’s youngest son and Emilia’s father, said the family misses Marquez dearly. Marquez has four grandchildren.
“That’s why we do these kinds of activities. We want to keep this house alive,” he said.
Gonzalo Garcia Barcha, son of Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, speaks during an interview at his late father’s home in Mexico City, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Gonzalo and his daughter sorted through personal belongings left behind by the late Colombian winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature Gabriel García Márquez, they found a box marked with the word “grandchildren” which revealed to the world more than a hundred unpublished letters that García Márquez received from the writer Pablo Neruda, from former President Bill Clinton and actor Robert Redford, among others. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A letter from former US President Bill Clinton is displayed during an exhibition at the home of the late Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez in Mexico City, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Relatives sort through personal effects left behind by the late Colombian laureate of Nobel Prize in Literature Gabriel García Márquez, they found a box marked with the word “grandchildren”. The chance discovery revealed to the world more than a hundred unpublished letters that García Márquez received from writer Pablo Neruda, former President Bill Clinton and actor Robert Redford, among others. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A letter from Chilean writer Pablo Neruda is displayed during an exhibition at the home of the late Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez in Mexico City, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Relatives sort through belongings left behind by the late Colombian prize winner Nobel Prize in Literature Gabriel García Márquez, they found a box marked with the word “grandchildren”. The chance discovery revealed to the world more than a hundred unpublished letters that García Márquez received from writer Pablo Neruda, former President Bill Clinton and actor Robert Redford, among others. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A letter from U.S. director Woody Allen is displayed during an exhibition at the home of Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez in Mexico City, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Relatives sort through belongings left behind by the late Colombian Nobel laureate in Literature Gabriel García Márquez, they found a box marked with the word “grandchildren”. The chance discovery revealed to the world more than a hundred unpublished letters that García Márquez received from writer Pablo Neruda, former President Bill Clinton and actor Robert Redford, among others. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
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