Snapshots: Roque Dalton
Not much of Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton’s work is available in English but there are two poetry collections, Small Hours of The Night, Clandestine Poems and the novel Miguel Marmol.
Aside from being a poet and a journalist, Dalton was also heavily involved in Salvadoran politics, being a highly recognized figure of the Salvadoran left. He was committed enough to have had attended military training camps in Cuba. In 1965 he was arrested and sentenced to be executed by firing squad. He was saved from this fate by nothing short of a miracle — something one couldn’t possibly make up — an earthquake caused the prison walls to collapse and he escaped. He then escaped to Cuba. From there, he went to Prague and worked as a correspondent for The International Review: Problems For Peace and Socialism. It was there he met a fellow revolutionary, Miguel Marmol, of whom his novel — written as a testimonial — is based.
By 1975, he clandestinely returned to El Salvador, in disguise, according to legend, but soon there were some disagreements and accusations of him secretly working for the CIA. Later that year, he was gunned down in his apartment in San Salvador.
His poems reflect his life as a revolutionary and the lives of the lower classes and peasants of Salvadoran society. Powerful, gripping poems that give a glimpse into that troubled nation’s history at the time he lived.