ALONSO QUESADA: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Alonso Quesada was the pseudonym of Rafael Romero Quesada (1886-1925), a Spanish poet, writer and narrator, who belonged to the group of modernist authors from Gran Canaria, headed by Tomás Morales Castellano.

Quesada's work was oriented towards everyday themes, and at the same time it was characterized by being sarcastic and ironic, and at the same time marked by its existential affliction. In addition, in it she reflected the contrast between the reality of things and what she carried within herself.

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Alonso Quesada published his first book in 1915, and he titled it El lino de los Sueños. However, life was not enough for him to see all his works published. His death left an early void in Canarian literature, and at the same time created a strong mark within modernism and postmodernism of the 20th century.

Biography

Birth and family of Quesada

Alonso Quesada was born on December 5, 1886 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. From his family it is known that his father was a military man, and that he died when the poet was twenty years old, leaving the young man in charge of the responsibility of his mother, his three sisters and his two aunts.

Training and first jobs

Alonso studied at the San Agustín school in Las Palmas, where he met his friend, who would also be a poet, Tomás Morales Castellano. Quesada's illusion to continue studying was overshadowed when, in 1907, her father ceased to exist.

The young Quesada had to put aside his studies to take care of his family. So he started working as a journalist, and at the same time he also worked as an assistant at the Bank of Spain. A few years later he worked on the Port Works Board.

A self-taught poet

Quesada did not have the opportunity to pursue university studies, however he knew how to develop his talent for writing and poetry. From an early age she began to read important works, which is why she had extensive cultural and intellectual knowledge.

Tomás Morales Castellano, a poet friend of Quesada. Source: Modernism, via Wikimedia Commons

Alonso Quesada was an expert in the literature and history of Spain, of the great classics, and also expressed his admiration for the important writers of his time. He maintained friendship with renowned intellectuals such as Agustín Millares Carlo, Luís Doreste Silva, among others.

Love and his first work

Quesada's attitude towards life was almost always one of frustration, many times he felt hopeless. However, he saw a ray of light enter when, in 1915, he published his first work The Linen of Dreams. His happiness was further prolonged when he met his great love.

During those years Rita Suárez came into the life of Alonso, a young woman who in 1920 became his wife and life partner. She was his muse for the creation of the play Llanura, and also with her he had his only daughter, Amalia, in 1922.

Death of Alonso Quesada

Quesada's life was not entirely positive or melodious, the fact of having to dedicate himself to activities that were not of his interest, and to postpone so many others that were, was frustrating.

Having to fight tuberculosis devastated him. This disease took his breath away early on November 4, 1925 in the same city where he was born.

Style

Alonso Quesada's work had a literary style closely linked to his life and the circumstances in which he lived. Hence, many times he wrote about everyday life, and that he gave his texts irony and sarcasm, with a unique agility.

The language used by the poet in his works was simple, but cultured. Although there was a certain black humor in his compositions, you could also perceive a degree of sensitivity that he often combined with his moods.

Bank of Spain. One of the sites where Quesada worked. Source: Luis García, via Wikimedia Commons

It is important to note that Alonso Quesada was an author who cultivated various literary genres. In each of them he left his talent, grace, cunning and determination as a specialist in letters reflected. Poetry, chronicles, narratives and theater were part of his life as a writer.

In poetry

Quesada's poetry was precise and direct, he used easily understood language, mostly colloquial. Framed within modernism, with its own personality characteristics such as irony, and having as main themes day-to-day, nature, friends, sadness among others.

In the chronicles

The contact that the Spanish writer had with journalism at an early age led him to become a great chronicler. His style in this genre was aggressive, without ceasing to have elegance, at the same time it was characterized by being malicious and at the same time thoughtful.

In the narrations

In the case of the narrative genre, Alonso Quesada demonstrated creativity and cunning. He always stayed close to his customary irony, to which he added flexibility in terms of setting up, and dedicated himself to being more descriptive and detailed.

In the theater

As an author of plays, Alonso developed it within symbolism. In them he developed characters who faced conflicts due to moral and physical aspects. The texts were set in the realistic qualities of the city where he grew up and spent his life.

Plays

- The linen of dreams (1915).

- Chronicles of the day and night (1919).

- The Umbria (1922).

Posthumous publications:

- The dispersed roads (1944).

- Lunar (1950).

- Smoking room (1972).

- The concerns of the Hall (1975).

- Insular (1982).

- Memoranda (1982).

Brief description of the most significant work

The linen of dreams

It was the first and most recognized work of Alonso Quesada, which he wrote in single or blank verse, that is, provided with measures, but not with rhyme. In this collection of poems he developed themes related to day-to-day events.

Fragment

“I came to tremble to speak before him, because I drank the words, not only with my ears, but with my eyes. I have never understood better the sanctity of the word and everything that we routinely priests of it profane.

… I, who have read the Colloquium in the Shadows, with the emotion of such memories, I don't know what to say to you about that poem; but he puts before me the mysterious and stormy taciturn, hungry for substantial knowledge, who asked me for what I don't know if I can give ”.

References

1. Arencibia, Y. (2015). Alonso Quesada. Spain: Archipelago of the Letters. Recovered from: academiacanarialengua.org.
2. Alonso Quesada. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
3. Alonso Quesada. (S. f.). Cuba: Ecu Red. Recovered from: ecured.cu.
4. Tamaro, E. (2004-2019). Alonso Quesada. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
5. Biography of Rafael Romero Quesada-Alonso Quesada. (2014). Spain: Canaries in the World. Recovered from: canariosenelmundo.com.