THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA by Margarita Engle

Engle, Margarita. The Poet Slave of Cuba: a Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006.



Born a slave in 1797 Cuba, Juan Francisco Manzano can neither read nor write. He can however, from a very young age, memorize and recite anything and everything he hears. His talents amaze the upper class ladies whom he calls the ghosts,

"The ghostly ladies masked and hidden

inside their casings of eggshell-and-rice powder

so no one can tell

if they are dark too."

he becomes the pet of his owner Dona Beatriz; accompanying her to the theatre and parties. He entertains the nobility with his recitations, secretly teaches himself to read and write, and begins to write his own poetry. Granted his freedom when Dona Beatriz dies, his freedom is snatched away by another noble woman, La Marquesa De Prado Ameno, who despises Juan for his gifts and tortures him in an attempt to silence him.

" I have to tell the overseers to teach

the same lessons

over and over

locking his ankles in the stocks

tying him to a cross like Jesus.

Or tying him to a ladder laid out on the ground

face down, mouth down

so he cannot speak

except to count his own lashes out loud."

Winner of the 2008 Pura Belpre medal for narrative The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano tells the timeless tale of the power of poetry to sustain and the human spirit's triumph over evil. Despite cruelty and injustice, Juan Manzano's belief in the power of kindness shines through Margarita Engle's free verse. The story of Juan's life flows down the pages, soft and smooth, while, courtesy of illustrator Sean Qualls black-and-white sketches, the faces of his torturers hover hauntingly in the background. Teens 6th grade and up will be inspired by the story of Juan Manzano and, perhaps, think to treat their fellow humans just a little better in his memory.