Historical Content Index:

• 1. The Media Prelude: Archive at La Poderosa and Cadena Azul
• 2. The Bohemian Evening at Unzueta Gallery (Calle Ocho)
• 3. The Stage Expansion: Projection onto the Akuara Teatro Stage
• 4. European Reach: The International Triumph in miNatura Magazine

🌌 La Luz de los Inmortales (2011)

The Axis of Gothic Existentialism and the Cosmogony of Desiderato

Published in 2011, La Luz de los Inmortales stands as one of the densest, most mystical, and magnetic stations in Roger Rivero’s poetic production. Enriched by a substantive prologue by the sophisticated editor and curator Roberto Uría, the volume opens solemnly with a thought by the virtuoso painter José Evelio Rodríguez Abreu (Josevelio): “…in the full exercise of my delirium”, a sentence originally inscribed beneath his pictorial work Sketch for a Testament.

The inclusion of this work and this thought pays tribute to the profound creative alliance between the writer and the visual artist, who not only served as his mentor and advocate within Miami’s cultural circuit, but also actively helped manage his public presentations by locating key exhibition spaces for the unfolding of his work.

Supported by this solid intellectual backing, the volume distances itself from traditional lyricism to establish its own cosmogony of existentialist and Gothic character, whose gravitational axis is the figure of Desiderato: the first vampire of his literary universe. Far from the commercial clichés of the genre, the author uses the myth of immortality as a philosophical mirror through which to explore the depths of human isolation, the weight of infinite time, the pain of rootedness, and the constant search for spiritual transcendence before the penumbra.

The launch of this volume not only marked a milestone in Rivero’s bibliographic catalogue, but also stirred the cultural life of the Miami exile community, supported by an intense campaign on the radio airwaves and by a mythical bohemian evening on Calle Ocho that gathered some of the highest circles of Cuban diaspora visual arts. With a poetic language of resistance and an imposing declamatory force that critics compared to the great voices of Hispanic literature, La Luz de los Inmortales consolidated the author’s creative maturity, projecting his lyrical mythology from Florida’s theatrical stages to the circuits of genre literature in Europe.

📻 The Media Prelude: Archive at La Poderosa and Cadena Azul

In the days preceding the physical launch of the work within Miami’s cultural circuits, the lyrical universe of La Luz de los Inmortales made its way forcefully across the airwaves of the diaspora. Author Roger Rivero made an exclusive appearance in the studios of the emblematic stations La Poderosa 670 AM and Cadena Azul 1550 AM, under the direction of the veteran and respected Hispanic radio broadcaster, Manuel "Manny" Portuondo.

In this space of broad journalistic diffusion, the interviewer explored in depth the conceptual coordinates of the poetry collection, the existentialist theme of the vampire myth, and the lyrical innovations of the proposal. That day in the radio studios was supported by the intimate presence of his father, José Luis Rivero, and of his nephew, Brandon Rivero, creating an event of great family pride that united different generations around literature and served as the definitive promotional engine leading up to the exhibition halls of Little Havana.

Studio Record: Poet Roger Rivero with his father José Luis Rivero and producer and broadcaster Manuel "Manny" Portuondo (center) at La Poderosa / Cadena Azul (Miami, 2011).

🌌 The Bohemian Evening at Unzueta Gallery (Calle Ocho)

The Author: Artistic portrait of Roger Rivero, creator, bilingual poet, and multidisciplinary composer of the existentialist avant-garde, author of the foundational Gothic volume 'La Luz de los Inmortales' (2011).

The official launch of the poetry collection gave rise to a historic and well-attended bohemian evening in the halls of the prestigious Unzueta Gallery, located in the artistic circuit of Calle Ocho in Little Havana. The gathering was hosted and coordinated under the institutional support and permission of the respected gallerist Enaida Unzueta and her brother, the master artist Ramón Unzueta, opening the doors of their space to fuse visual art with the author’s Gothic literary avant-garde.

Unlike the launch of his later volume, Inteligencia Artificial, this event drew a notably larger attendance, bringing together a substantial group of distinguished personalities, creators, and highly respected figures within the cultural fabric of exile. The gathering was attended by major luminaries of Cuban diaspora culture and visual arts, among them the renowned painter Clara Morera, the distinguished Cuban poet Blanca Caballero and the sophisticated editor and curator Roberto Uría, lending support to the significance of the work.

Institutional Support: Poet Roger Rivero with the distinguished gallerist Enaida Unzueta. (Miami, 2011).

The climax of the evening arrived with the author’s intervention. Without relying on any physical support or manuscript, Roger Rivero stood before the audience and declaimed his verses entirely from memory. That interpretation transcended traditional reading and became a true stage performance; a trance in which body language and the expressive movement of his hands projected the mystical density of the text.

Poetic Performance: Poet Roger Rivero gesturing and declaiming from memory the verses of 'La Luz de los Inmortales' during the official presentation (Miami, 2011).

Visual-Art Avant-Garde: Writer Roger Rivero sharing a moment with the celebrated painter Clara Morera after the conclusion of the Gothic lyrical reading.

The intellectual significance of the night was consecrated through the support of the signatures that gave body and legitimacy to the volume. The sophisticated editor and curator Roberto Uría, author of the substantive prologue that opens the text, certified before those present the aesthetic value of the proposal. Likewise, the evening served to publicly recognize the visual work of Diego González, official designer of the author’s book covers, whose graphic finish gave his entire bibliographic catalogue a first-rate identity and rigor.

Editorial Support: Author Roger Rivero with Roberto Uría, the sophisticated editor and prologue writer of the work, sharing impressions during the official evening (Calle Ocho, 2011).

Visual Identity: Writer Roger Rivero with visual creator Diego González, architect of the official cover designs for the author’s catalogue.

It was after witnessing this display of high culture that a singular nuance of the evening took place. Impressed by the dramatic temperament and command of verse, the master of the San Alejandro Academy, José Evelio Rodríguez Abreu (Josevelio) —who served as mentor and advocate of the writer and generously helped him arrange his presentations in the city—privately commented to another person present in the room that Rivero’s imposing stage force while declaiming directly reminded him of the mystique and artistic temperament of the celebrated Cuban Cervantes Prize laureate, Dulce María Loynaz.

Archive Testimony: Writer Roger Rivero with master artist José Evelio Rodríguez Abreu (Josevelio) and his mother, Rosa Cruz Miranda, in the halls of Unzueta Gallery (Miami, 2011).

The golden close and emotional peak of the night was captured in an iconic photograph of three people that preserved a meaningful act of pride and fraternity. His brother, Charles Tizzot Rivero, presented the author with a solemn bouquet of flowers to congratulate the launch. The occasion was shared intimately with the ideal designer Diego González and with the poet’s indispensable pillar, his mother Rosa Cruz Miranda, sealing with profound elegance and family affection one of the most memorable dates in the contemporary literature of exile.

Fraternal Pride: The author’s brother, Charles Tizzot, presents the traditional bouquet of flowers to celebrate the launch, accompanied by cover designer Diego González and the poet’s indispensable pillar, his mother Rosa Cruz Miranda (Little Havana, December 16, 2011).

Closing Portrait: Collective photograph of Cuban intellectuals and internationally distinguished figures celebrating the consecration of 'La Luz de los Inmortales' in the halls of Unzueta Gallery. The frame brings together master artist Josevelio, gallerist Enaida Unzueta, prologue writer Roberto Uría, artists Clara Morera and Blanca Caballero (together with her husband), virtuoso pianist Domingo Porto, and prominent cultural personalities such as Nancy Gutiérrez and Adriana Calabró, among other notable attendees (Little Havana, December 16, 2011).

Historical Memorabilia: Printed promotional flyer originally distributed throughout Miami’s cultural circuits for the official launch of 'La Luz de los Inmortales'. The document records the event scheduled for Friday, December 16, 2011, at 7:00 PM in the spaces of Unzueta Gallery (1607 SW 8th Street, Miami, Florida).

🎭 The Stage Expansion: Projection onto the Akuara Teatro Stage

The immense declamatory power, command of memorized verse, and dramatic temperament displayed by Roger Rivero during the launch of La Luz de los Inmortales caused his work to move quickly beyond the visual-art exhibition halls of Little Havana. His lyrical proposal captured the attention of the renowned Cuban poet, writer, and cultural promoter Manuel Adrián López (Manny), who detected in the author’s performance a force ideally suited to the stage of the city’s alternative theater circuit.

Formally invited by Manuel Adrián López, Roger Rivero actively joined one of the most memorable multidisciplinary events of the season, held on the emblematic stage of Akuara Teatro. The evening combined avant-garde performing arts with a select showcase of continental letters. The program opened with an acclaimed theatrical piece based on texts from the novel Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar, performed by the theater’s own director, Miriam Bermúdez, alongside actor Christian Ocón, and also featuring the presence of Midiala Rosales as the evening’s special guest.

The central axis of the evening then gave way to a grand recital that brought together a prestigious constellation of international creators from the diaspora. The official program gathered poets Elsa Barros (Colombia), Ricardo Calderón (Peru), Yosie Crespo (Cuba), Susana Della Latta (Argentina), Jesús T. Díaz (Cuba), Carlos Escamilla (Honduras), Javier Iglesias (Cuba), Victor Jiménez (Cuba), Manny López (Cuba), Beatriz Mendoza (Colombia), Eduard Reboll (Spain), Magy Trancho (Cuba), and Lourdes Vázquez (Puerto Rico).

Within this demanding Hispano-American forum, Roger Rivero assumed the role of highest artistic responsibility on stage, taking sole charge of the closing and dramatic conclusion of the poetic gala. His imposing presence and Gothic bodily expressiveness consolidated the unanimous respect of his fellow creators, the direction, and the exile audience, proving that his poetic universe possessed a living and spectacular dimension capable of taking possession of the stage.

Archive Evidence: Poet Roger Rivero assuming the dramatic closing and the closing of the poetic gala on the stage of Akuara Teatro, surrounded by distinguished international poets in Miami and invited by writer Manuel Adrián López (2012).

📘 European Reach: The International Triumph in miNatura Magazine

The conceptual, aesthetic, and philosophical impact founded by Roger Rivero around the myth of the existentialist vampire did not limit itself to stirring the artistic and theatrical circuits of Miami; his Gothic prose crossed the Atlantic to measure itself before the criticism of the Old Continent. In an important milestone for his literary career, the author emerged as winner of a rigorous international literary contest convened from Spain by the prestigious European publication Revista Digital miNatura, specialized in fantasy and horror literature.

After obtaining this distinction on his own merit, Roger Rivero was selected to form part of Issue 129 of the magazine, corresponding to September 2013, a collectible monographic volume officially titled "Dossier Inmortalidad". In that transatlantic edition, his two acclaimed short fiction pieces were consecrated and published: "El poder de Dave Blake" (p. 59) and "Desiderato" (p. 66), a story named in honor of the first vampire of his lyrical cosmogony. This international triumph consolidated the maturity and transatlantic projection of his 2011 literary catalogue, proving that his Gothic avant-garde possessed a universal force capable of conquering the most demanding forums of genre literature in Europe.

miNatura Magazine / Roger Rivero

Archive Evidence: Documentary record of the official pages of the Dossier Inmortalidad of Revista miNatura (Spain, 2013), certifying the award and international publication of the author’s Gothic texts.