Alida Castañeda Guerra

Alida Castañeda Guerra

Alida Castañeda Guerra –poet, narrator, scriptwriter, journalist, translator, social communicator, and radio and television producer. Director of the WillaqCuna storytellers’ collective.

I was born in Tambobamba (Cotabambas - Apurímac) on December seventeenth, nineteen hundred and forty-eight. I studied at the San Antonio Abad National University in Cusco and at CETUC Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Transhumant steps led me to work in different parts of the country — Cusco, Lima, Arequipa, Cerro de Pasco, Huaral and Huamanga (Ayacucho). I spent almost 30 years in Ayacucho.

I witnessed the entire era of the violence. Daily, death swept through the countryside. I wrote verses about the spilled blood. In the very pupil of pain. That which occurred is not something to be told again; I cried and I cried, so much that I became ill with the sorrow.

I worked on Perú’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission where I translated the most painful testimonies from Quechua into Spanish —once again, deep sorrows. To see how, passersby of different colors, some from above and others from below, massacred, raped, killed our people, the men and women of the Andes, of the ravines, of the valleys. Without knowing what or why, they were stripped of all that they loved, orphaned of everything. Without having anything to eat or to drink, the survivors were forced to flee, stumbling with each step, orphans, leaving behind their beloved ayllu communities and the disappeared, the tortured and the cruelly killed.

Spinning their bewilderment on injured, damaged spinning wheels they began to walk.

Chaymantan kay hariwikunata apachimuni, teqsimuytinmi yachanan imaynas qhelli makikuna k’anchariq llaqtakinata saruparan chayta. Amaña hayk’aq kutimunapaq.

Long literary silences have characterized my life. Sometimes for up to ten years I’ve lost the thread of my writing and many other things, yet when I returned the doors were always opened for me. I have published the following collections of poems: Voces Alzadas, Kayani: Astilla de luz/ Qayani kanchay qillpa, Ausencias y esperanzas and Quqawchayniy José María Arguedasman Haylli–Mi Sustento: Canto A José María Arguedas. I have also published the book Crónicas, memorias y algo más.

I direct the WillaqCuna storytellers’ collective and am the group’s lead script writer. We perform oral narrations that integrate a variety of artistic genres so that our voices might be heard more clearly. Our great strengths are that all members of the group are at least 65 years old, and we promote the Quechua culture in all of our presentations. We have performed in different settings, including: universities, cultural events, and at national and international writers’ conferences. We have performed throughout Perú, in Ecuador and most recently, for the University of Wisconsin.

I have narrated The Little Prince in Quechua for the Casa de la Literatura Peruana’s program Rimaykusunchis, translated the film Volver a ver into Quechua and I have dubbed the film Ciudad Jardín into Quechua, among other activities.

Extras:Alida Casteñada Guerra narrates the Quechua translation of The Little Prince for the “Rimaykusunchis” radio program sponsored by the literary association, Casa de la Literatura Peruana (House of Peruvian Literature).