Agustín de la Hoz's legacy gains a new publication to mark the centenary of his birth. Cuaderno de habla popular de Lanzarote recovers an unpublished work that the Arrecife-born writer and historian began in 1969 with his wife, the teacher Pilar Perdomo Fajardo, with the aim of collecting the words, expressions and ways of speaking characteristic of Lanzarote.
Until now the material had remained in a series of notebooks containing handwritten notes, drafts, words and jottings still to be checked, which never became a publication. The work has been organised and prepared for publication with the involvement of Benchomo Guadalupe Oliva, a scholar and executor of De la Hoz's work and director of the Archivo Municipal de Arrecife.
Words of an island
The book gathers terms and words from Arrecife as well as from other villages across Lanzarote, including vocabulary related to seafaring and to life in the island's interior, along with sayings and expressions used for generations. The publication thus recovers part of Lanzarote's linguistic heritage, which its authors began documenting more than half a century ago.
The volume's release coincides with the centenary of the birth of Agustín de la Hoz Betancort, born in Arrecife on 31 August 1926 and who died in La Laguna on 11 August 1988. A writer, historian and researcher, he was one of the leading figures of Lanzarote culture in the 20th century, and his name remains linked to Arrecife's Casa de la Cultura.
Copies will be distributed to libraries, schools and cultural centres in Lanzarote and the rest of the Canary Islands, as well as to researchers and scholars of the islands. Cuaderno de habla popular de Lanzarote will also be available for public consultation at the Archivo Municipal de Arrecife.