Aquiles Nazoa: The poet who reflected the values of Venezuelan popular culture (+seeding)

Published at: 25/04/2024 12:42 PM

On April 25, 1976, the Venezuelan playwright, writer, journalist and comedian Aquiles Nazoa died in a traffic accident on the Caracas-Valencia highway.

Nazoa is known for his great works and for his television space “The Simplest Things”.

This distinguished writer spoke on an infinite number of subjects, where anything, the simplest, could become an object of reflection and trigger a discourse about its properties, its history, or the anecdotes surrounding the practices in which the situation was involved.

His beginnings as an apprentice carpenter, winemaker and bellboy in a Caracas hotel influenced the humble personality that characterized him for years, as well as his pure nationalism, which he made clear in every poem written with words born of Venezuelan jargon.

Among his works dedicated to children are The Drowned Wasp, The Flute Donkey and Butter Horse, through which the poet argued that writers underestimated children by writing to them in a different way, so he repeatedly expressed that poetry was one and should be understood and enjoyed by all children equally.

At the time of his death, on April 25, 1976, the illustrious poet was writing three books: Navigators of Colors, Genius and Ingenious and a collection of lyrical poetry, entitled Friends, Gardens and Memories; which were finished by writers close to him, in posthumous homage to his sudden departure.

A brief journey through the life of the poet Achilles Nazoa

Aquiles Nazoa was born on May 17, 1920 in the Caracas neighborhood of El Guarataro, in the “Cola de Pato” sector. Son of Rafael Nazoa and Micaela González and brother of fellow poet Aníbal Nazoa.

His works express the values of Venezuelan popular culture.

After doing several jobs, he began working for the newspaper El Universal as a packer. Later he was a proofreader and at the same time he began to study French and English, which allowed him to be a tourist guide at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Nazoa won the National Journalism Award for the specialty of humorous and costume writers in 1948. In 1967, he also received the Municipal Prize for Literature of the Federal District, Award for the best published book.

R MAZO EDITORIAL OFFICE