The Casa de Cultura in Daimiel served as the venue for the presentation of Deogracias González de la Aleja's poetry collection, ‘corazón de poeta, alma de rapsoda’, on Thursday. The event, part of the autumn programme of the Municipal Public Library, attracted a large audience, including members of local reading clubs, friends, and family.
Among the attendees was Miguel Román Torres, a cousin of González de la Aleja, who engaged in a conversation with the author and his wife, Isabel Núñez de Arenas. Together, they explored the personal and literary details intertwined in the collection. González de la Aleja, a former railway worker born in Daimiel, spent much of his life in Alicante before returning to his hometown after retirement. Torres noted that the author has maintained “a constant poetic vocation since childhood.”
The core of the poetry collection is dedicated to love and his wife, Isabel. The couple met at a reading club in Alicante, where they discovered their shared roots in Daimiel, leading to a relationship that inspired their return to the town after retirement. González de la Aleja expressed the significance of his wife, stating, “she has the heart of a poet, but her soul is entirely rhapsodic; that’s where she thrives, where she gives her all.” He recalled the impact of hearing her recite poetry for the first time, describing her voice as “transparent and clear like a flickering lantern.” During the presentation, she recited poetry, highlighting the intensity and depth of their relationship, which blossomed among books and now features prominently in his work.
The emotional themes of González de la Aleja's poems were evident in the selections read by Luisa Gil Cardillo during the event. Prior to the readings, the mayor of Daimiel, Leopoldo Sierra, congratulated the author and praised the lyrical and human dimensions of the work. Sierra described the collection as “a journey with its winds, pauses, and changes in direction until the heart takes command.” He also emphasised the couple's personal experiences around literature, remarking, “it is a beautiful story to come together around books and discover that, in addition to sharing readings, one can begin to write a new page together.” The mayor concluded by wishing the book great success, hoping it would “find many readers” and become “a place to feel, recognise oneself, and accompany the author on this journey.”
