They celebrate six decades of ‘The Tomb’, the first novel by José Agustín

The writer José Agustín published his first novel in 1964, the gravewith which he began the path that led him to achieve an essential place in Mexican literature. This year, Alfaguara launched an edition that commemorates six decades of that milestone.

On December 6, the Tribute to José Agustín will be held: the grave to infinity at the Guadalajara International Book Fair, with the participation of Margarita Bermúdez, widow of the narrator, and her son, Andrés Ramírez, as well as Ricardo Castillo and José Eugenio Sánchez.

In addition to including the celebrated novel, The Tomb: Commemorative Edition It brings together unpublished photographs of the author and stories about very significant moments in his life told by family, close friends and writers to the journalist Dalila Carreño; for example, José Agustín’s trip to Cuba; his participation in the literary workshop of Juan José Arreola; the relationship with Margarita Bermúdez, friends and brothers, and the novelist’s confinement in Lecumberri.

Among the testimonies, that of Margarita Bermúdez stands out about the intimacy of the creative duo that began with José Agustín (1944-2024) in 1962 and only ended with the death of the essayist, playwright and screenwriter.

Bermúdez said that José Agustín “could not have had a better birthday celebration, because on August 19, 1963, just when he turned 19, he received the best gift in the world: a call from Juan José Arreola telling him that he had read Tedium (which later appeared with the title the grave) and that he considered himself a writer, that the work was very publishable and he was going to edit it.”

In the text he referred to the novelist as a father: “’He was a love, very warm, sometimes a little sleepless because he wrote at night, sometimes he lacked a little relaxation, but I think it was extraordinary. I read to them The Hobbit, The Monkey King, One Thousand and One Nights‘It was quite a joke to have those children.’ Since then they were through thick and thin, together until the end.”

He confessed to Dalila Carreño about his last days with José Agustín, whose love lasted 60 years, four months and seven days after formalizing the relationship. “When Margarita sensed that her beloved husband was about to leave, they had the opportunity to talk a lot, ‘especially about the great love we always had for each other.’”

The other conversations included are those of the novelist and historian Margarita Dalton; José Agustín’s siblings, Hilda and Alejandro Ramírez; the poet and translator Elsa Cross; the writer and academic Sara Sefchovich; the novelist Yuri Herrera, the couple’s friends Leticia Araujo and Rosario Casco, and the narrator Enrique Serna.

The title includes a prologue by the narrator Brenda Navarro, who states there that “all literature written in the second decade of the 21st century, within the Mexican literary field, is much closer to the grave (1964) by José Agustín, which came to be called ‘literature’ at the time when the author debuted.”

The editor also wrote that literature is in full crisis, “as is everything that clings to good forms and respect for the rules and the intention of ‘making art for art’s sake’ and depoliticizing every cultural and social movement within the historical context in which it is created.” ”.

What I am saying firmly is that it inhabits us, that it dialogues with current literaturehe added in reference to the writer born in Acapulco, who is part of the current and who is not afraid to persist because he always knew that all reality expands.

Literary precocity

The editor and essayist Leopoldo Lezama made a profile of the fascinating story of Gabriel Guía and how this novel was shaped, showing the literary precocity of José Agustín in the midst of an environment marked by consolidated literary figures in our country and brutal political repression.

Lezama emphasizes that The teaching of the novel lies in its initiatory power, in the journey of a soul through its own deserts until it finds a wasteland of light (its own end)..

Hilda and Alejandro Ramírez talk about their experience of growing up with José Agustín and learning how he aimed to become a great author. The first commented that the narrator “had a star that announced a very special talent, which in this case was literature. (…) The good writer is inspired from within; “He took the pen, and pretend that from infinity all the books were dictated to him… He already brought that gift.”

For his part, Alejandro Ramírez recalled that his brother was rebellious and restless and evoked anecdotes that showed that spirit from his childhood, as well as his deep taste for baseball, reading, rock, theater and other arts and mystical themes. Regarding his commitment to social movements, he recounts when he went to Cuba to participate in literacy campaigns, along with Margarita Dalton. He was 16 years old.

Dalton, who had a brief marriage to the author of In profilestated: “We were always friends, despite having been boyfriends, having gotten married and all that. He had a very critical mentality and I liked that a lot, I found his rebellion very funny. Pepe used irony a lot and made fun of practically everything.

“I remember that he read me a part of the grave to see what he thought. Obviously I gave him my opinion, but at that time the text was very far from being a novel, it was small chapters. “We sat down to talk and laugh a lot.”

Elsa Cross, wife of the writer who died last January, emphasized that “the validity of the grave and the other books by José Agustín is due to the way in which they present a very direct and very fresh vision of reality, stripped of conventions and hypocrisies, and at the same time does not try to be giving lessons or postulating itself as the only one. possible vision.”