Tag Archives: Virginia Garrard

Ernesto Cardenal’s Centennial

The papers of Nicaragua’s beloved poet-priest-politician reside at UT’s Benson Latin American Collection; January 20, 2025, is the centennial of his birth


Admired and controversial, Ernesto Cardenal was a towering figure in Central American culture and politics. As Nicaragua’s minister of culture under the Sandinista government, which took power in 1979, he oversaw a national program that taught poetry to Nicaraguans of all ages and all walks of life. 

A black-and-white photo shows many children in the background, facing the camera under a grassy roof open-air structure. In the foreground, several men are seated on a wooden floor. A microphone is being held above them to the left. The man on the left at the front of the photo is Ernesto Cardenal, wearing a black beret, wire-rimmed glasses and a simple collarless white shirt. He has shoulder-length white hair, and a full white beard and mustache. Another man to the right of him is speaking to an interviewer whose face is not visible.
Ernesto Cardenal (left of center) as Minister of Culture in Nicaragua. Undated photo, Benson Latin American Collection.

His relationship with the Sandinista government would eventually sour. As a result, the safety of his literary archive was in peril, leading to its eventual acquisition by the Benson in 2016.

In honor of Cardenal’s centennial, we link to previously published writings by UT Austin faculty and staff that examine various aspects of his life.


Ernesto Cardenal Papers


Ernesto Cardenal stands in profile in a black-and-white photo, on the left, at the stern of a small boat. He wears a simple white shirt and light-colored pants, a band around his forehead, glasses. He is holding a white net in his hand. He has shoulder-length white hair, beard, and mustache. The boat has the words San Juan de la Cruz painted on it, with the word Cruz symbolized by a cross.
Ernesto Cardenal, photo by Sandra Eleta

“The archive features rare editions of Cardenal’s writings, translations of his poetry, interviews, photographs, videos, newspaper clippings, documentaries about his life and work, and hundreds of letters to and from key protagonists of Nicaraguan culture and politics.”

Read more: Papers of Nicaraguan Luminary Find a Home at the Benson Latin American Collection

Ernesto Cardenal Papers on Texas Archival Resources Online


Cardenal at LLILAS Benson


Color photo of Ernesto Cardenal at age 91, reading his poetry at the Benson. He is wearing his black beret, a dark jacket, wire-rimmed glasses, and his hair is white, covering his ears. He holds a piece of paper in one hand and gestures with the other.
Cardenal reads his poetry to a packed house at the Benson. Photo: Travis Willmann.

The opening of the Ernesto Cardenal Papers is celebrated at a roundtable and bilingual poetry reading at the Benson. At the event, Cardenal reads his own poetry, which is passionately interpreted into English by poet Celeste Mendoza.

Watch video (poetry reading starts at one-hour mark): “Ernesto Cardenal in Word and Action” Reading and Roundtable

Cardenal in Hard Times


LP cover for Cardenal's libro-disco recording of Oración por Marilyn Monroe and other poems. The cover features Andy Warhol's alterations of Monroe's photo (or a copy thereof), in color, four in a square.
Warhol-inspired libro-disco cover. Caracas, 1972. Benson Latin American Collection.

“[T]he voice of Ernesto Cardenal broke with our routine of studying a limited range of literary texts, mostly focused on intimate, politically inoffensive themes,” writes Professor Luis Cárcamo-Huechante. “In the midst of times of censorship and coercion, it was Cardenal’s verses that awoke me to an unexpectedly revelatory linkage between poetry and social issues, literary writing and collective history.”

Read Cárcamo-Huechante’s essay in English or Spanish

Interview in Managua and Digital Exhibition


Ernesto Cardenal, his arms aloft and outstretched, is saying mass in this black-and-white photo. He wears a poncho. One the table in front of him is a metal wine cup. He has shoulder-length whitish hair, beard, and mustache, and dark-rimmed glasses. Behind him hangs a white sheet illustrated with drawings.
Saying mass. Ernesto Cardenal Papers, Benson Latin American Collection

In spring 2016, José Montelongo, former Benson librarian, visited Cardenal in Managua. The occasion was the Benson’s recent acquisition of Father Cardenal’s personal papers. In these excerpts from their conversation, Cardenal talks about poetry, science, and religion, about the famous poetry workshops he helped create, about the successes and failures of the Nicaraguan Revolution, and more.

Watch the video (in Spanish with English subtitles)

The digital exhibition “Remembering Ernesto Cardenal: Selections from His Archive,” organized by Latin American Archivist Dylan Joy, traces key moments in the life of the poet, priest, revolutionary, liberation theologist, sculptor, and activist.

Visit the digital exhibition

Hasta siempre . . .


Black-and-white close-up of an older Ernesto Cardenal, who is looking directly into the camera. His black beret is visible. He wears wire-rimmed glasses. His white hair is in bright relief with a black background.
Ernesto Cardenal, undated photo. Benson Latin American Collection.

“Ernesto Cardenal was a fighter: for justice, against dictatorship, for equality, for his faith, and for the power of art and beauty to shine light in a dark world. He was tireless in this lifelong struggle, striving until his final days for a better Nicaragua and true justice for all people. LLILAS Benson is proud to help to carry on his legacy.”

Virginia Garrard, Professor Emerita of History; former director, LLILAS Benson

Read the Obituary: “Ernesto Cardenal Is Dead at 95: The Nicaraguan Poet, Priest, and Revolutionary Chose the Benson Collection for His Archive”