ERNESTO CARDENAL MARTÍNEZ (1925–2020) is a Nicaraguan Catholic priest and was one of the most famous liberation theologians of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, a party he has since left. From 1979 to 1987 he served as Nicaragua's first culture minister. Cardenal was the founder of the primitivist art community in the Solentiname Islands, where he lived for more than ten years. He is also famous as a poet, having authored more than 60 volumes of poetry, essays, and criticism.
John Lyons is an Anglo-Irish poet, musician, educator, and artist currently living in London. He is well-known for his translations of Latin American poetry, including Cosmic Canticle by Ernesto Cardenal, and works by Neruda, Borges, and Augusto Monterroso.