Fiction and Poetry Readings: Antonio Benitez Rojo and Basil Paquet (1995)

Mervyn Solomon introduces Dr. Sandra Paquet of the University of Miami English Dept., who introduces Cuban author and scholar Antonio Benitez Rojo. Benitez Rojo discusses his novel Mar de las Lentejas (Sea of Lentils) and reads passages in Spanish. The novel is a fictional recreation of Spain's conquest of the Caribbean. Basil Paquet then reads three passages from the English translation of Sea of Lentils. Finally, Antonio Benitez Rojo answers questions from the audience. He explains the title (it comes from a misinterpretation by an early cartographer who mistook the word Antilles for lentilles) and mentions writers he considers influences on his own writing.