The poet, writer and artist from Tomelloso, Dionisio Cañas, received this Thursday from Mayor Javier Navarrothe title of Favorite Son of the City, during an institutional event organized in the plenary hall of the Town Hall, coinciding with his 75th birthday and surrounded by his family and friends.
An event chaired by the city’s mayor, Javier Navarro, who said that “Dionisio was called to be Tomelloso’s favorite son even before being a poet and writer”, for “his almost existential admiration for his people” and for his “deep love of the rural, the land and the countryside.”
“Today we give you this title of Favorite Son and we are very proud of the choice that Tomelloso made,” said the mayor. This city “that you love, know, appreciate and which inspires you deeply, the same one that you have always represented, even before discovering your filial feelings towards it,” he added.
Dionisio Cañas is, said the mayor, a close man and a person of great literary talents“but above all, a man endowed with great human virtues”, capable of “looking with the proper queen and delving into the souls of people, understanding their way of being, sympathizing with farmers and admiring those who contain in their memory the tool it is the word, in the absence of teaching reading and writing, of what has been called quintería poetry.
The work of Dionisio Cañas is “so prolix and extensive, so deep and diverse, so revealing of intellectuality” that sometimes “he tries to hide this deep love for the rural world,” said Navarro, who highlighted the way of which the poet addresses “the human stories which make up our life, those which weave our path, those which make us, fill us, those which reveal the brevity and brevity of it.”
The mayor also highlighted his “cunning, his intelligence and his ability to surprise us” and his “openness of mind and spirit, broad and broad to understand that he can learn from everyone, and that, dear friends, is also done out of modesty.” . Which led him to meet “illustrious workers of Tomelloso” and to “cultivate friendships as important as that of Nobel Prize winner Vicente Alexandre“.
Navarro concluded his speech by wishing him that his writings “continue to be a beacon in the history of our people”, that his poems “inspire others to come”, that his love for Tomelloso “continues to grow”, that his human virtues “spread by any bar” and that his enormous capacity for observation “continues to be reflected in beautiful poems and writings”. He also asked him to continue to be “an authentic man” and that the rest of us “appreciate his intelligence, his abilities and his good work even more.”
Dionisio Cañas, accompanied by his two sisters, Isabel and Mercedes, dedicated the title to four important people in his life, now deceased “because I know that this act would make them very happy”: his mother, Isabel Cañas Rivas, “who He was everything to me, my main support and wherever he is, he will be happy”; to José Ovidio Jiménez, his partner for more than 15 years, “my mentor and a fundamental element of my life and my work”; to the artist Patricia Gadea “whom I loved well beyond friendship and art” and to Ricardo Quevedo “the best friend and the best person I have ever known in my entire life”.
“A great honor and exciting to be part of the short but high caliber list of Tomelloso’s favorite children” The winner, who thanked everyone present “because it touches my heart that you are here” as well as to the former and current company. , said that for him it was “a great honor and exciting to be part of the short but high-caliber list of Tomelloso’s favorite children.”
A list that includes Antonio López Torres, Carlos Morales Antequera, Francisco Carretero, Francisco García Pavón, Eladio Cabañero, Antonio López García and Blas Camacho Zancada.who will receive him in a few days, posthumously, and whom he defined as an “extraordinary person” to whom he was united “despite differences” by a relationship of friendship. “I hope you find a Favorite Girl to balance out soon.”
During his speech, he said he was “proud” to be who he is, “in every sense of the word being, existential and spiritual, openly and trying to follow a personal ethic based on respect for others”. “, animals and nature”, willing “to carry the name of Tomelloso with great pride wherever he goes, wherever he lives and with whom he is”. It is, he declared, “a self in which there are several selves, some better than others, everything depends on those who define this self, so elusive even for myself.”
“Thank you for giving us light and truth”
Santiago Arroyo, “intellectual, professor and cultural manager”, also from Tomelloso, and friend of Dionisio Cañas, who defined him as his “protector and to whom I owe so much”, also participated in the event. Arroyo, “the disciple who sponsors the teacher today”, highlighted Dionisio Cañas “who is already part of our collective and personal memory”, his “love for life”, his “enthusiasm” and his “vital force” , “its values and its firm ethics of defense of friendship”, its “commitment” to its people and, at the same time, its status as a “citizen of the world”. Today, he said, it is “a fair recognition”.
Dionisio Cañas, “a great reader and an excellent teacher,” Arroyo said, “continues to ask questions about the world,” “he fought to get poetry out of books,” using other channels and supports, and “it carries innumerable landscapes”. in his eyes.” He is, he also said, “a promoter of the cultural potential of Tomelloso”, “a promoter of research” and a youth leader”. Dionisio “put feeling at the service of life” and “linked “life in New York” to Tomelloso’s bars. “Thank you,” he concluded by saying, “for giving us light and truth.”
The event brought together the Councilor for Culture, Inés Losa, in addition to the councilors of the municipal team Eloísa Perales, Elena Villahermosa and Benito Benito and the councilors of the socialist group, Francisco José Barato and Nazareth Rodrigo, artists such as Pepe Torres and Caroline Culubret were also present; the director of the municipal library, Carmen María Labrador and the head of the cultural services department of the town hall, Victoria Bolós, as well as friends and family. The event ended with Tomelloso’s anthem.
