The Poet Versus Lady Macbeth

In this essay, Sampsonia Way emeritus writer-in-residence, Horacio Castellanos Moya, discusses the conflict between writers and dictators. The essay explores the example of Ernesto Cardenal, an 84-year-old former Nicaraguan culture minister and Catholic priest, who helped popularize the Sandinista movement in the 1980s. In 1990, the Sandinistas lost power, but Cardenal has remained a beloved poet and cultural icon. In 2006, Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega was re-elected president, but Cardenal has openly criticized him for alleged corruption and betrayal of the Sandinista liberal ideals he once championed. In return, Ortega has been widely perceived as carrying out a vendetta against Cardenal.

The Poet Versus Lady Macbeth
Horacio Castellanos Moya
translated by Katherine Silver