Riogordo has paid a new tribute to Fabiola Gavilán Perdiguero. More than three decades after her untimely death, the young poet, who passed away ... at just 19 from leukaemia, has been posthumously awarded her town’s highest honour.
Last Saturday, the auditorium of the municipal museum of fine arts was filled with family members, friends, former classmates, teachers and locals who had gathered to witness her being named an 'Hija Predilecta' (Honoured Daughter) of Riogordo and to attend the launch of the fourth edition of her poetry anthology Tu Memoria.
This honour brings to a close a process that began several years ago and was unanimously approved by the municipal council at its plenary session on 23 April 2024.
The official ceremony included the reading of the resolution, speeches by the municipal groups and a presentation of the young woman’s achievements, before the Riogordo medal and the title were presented to the family.
During his speech, the mayor, Antonio Alés (PP), recalled Fabiola’s ability to move people with texts she wrote when she was just a child and a teenager. Municipal official Encarnación Ortega read out the resolution, while spokespersons Germán Luque and Sagrario Molina also highlighted the literary and human qualities of the young woman from Riogordo.
Riogordo awards Fabiola Gavilán its highest honour posthumously and revives her poetic legacy with a new edition
Emilia Pascual was tasked with tracing her life and literary career. This was followed by one of the highlights of the ceremony, when the mayor presented the award to the family. The ceremony explicitly described the award as "the highest honour bestowed posthumously by the municipality of Riogordo".
Victoria Gavilán, Fabiola’s sister, received the medal and the honour on behalf of a family that has kept the memory of the writer alive for decades.
“We will never tire of publicly expressing our infinite gratitude for the medal and certificate recognising Fabiola as an Honoured Daughter of her hometown, Riogordo,” said her relatives at the ceremony.
Poems
Fabiola Gavilán died on 19 May 1994 from leukaemia. She was 19 years old, in her first year of nursing studies, and from a very young age had made reading and writing an essential part of her life. She particularly admired authors such as Miguel Hernández, Federico García Lorca and Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, and left behind numerous poems which her family began to compile after her death.
Her connection with Riogordo went far beyond literature. For twelve years she took part in performances of El Paso, one of the town’s leading cultural institutions. During the tribute, her family recalled that close bond with the town: "Fabiola was a dreamer" and would have been "proud" that her verses would continue to bear the name of Riogordo many years after her death.
Over the years, that memory has gradually become a public legacy. Since 1996, the Alta Axarquía secondary school in Periana, where Fabiola attended sixth form, has organised a literary prize named after her, which has now reached its 30th edition. Furthermore, since 2016, the school library has been named the Fabiola Gavilán Library.
Tu Memoria is now in its fourth edition, features new illustrations and will donate its proceeds to the children’s charity AVOI
The town’s recognition of her took another step forward in 2024, coinciding with the thirtieth anniversary of her death, when Riogordo added her name to its street register. Calle Cabo Puente, where the family’s birthplace is situated, was renamed Poetisa Fabiola Gavilán, and a commemorative plaque was unveiled.
Following the official ceremony came the second part of the day’s programme: the launch of the fourth edition of Tu Memoria. Cristina Garrido Gavilán and Juan Gavilán Perdiguero introduced this new edition, which brings Fabiola’s verses back to life and accompanies them with new illustrations by Fernando Wilson Ruiz and Diego Ceano González.
Reading campaign
Fabiola’s work had already gained considerable popularity years earlier. Her family recalled how a campaign to promote reading, launched by the regional government of Andalucía and the Andalusian Centre for Literature in 2000, brought her poems to over a hundred towns across Andalucía. This new edition now aims to bring them back to the attention of generations who were not even born when the young writer died.
The tribute also took on a strong charitable dimension. All proceeds from the sale of this edition will go to Avoi, a voluntary organisation dedicated to supporting children in hospital and making their stay – and that of their families – more bearable.
Literature was, as one might expect, the focus of much of the evening. Antonio Quero and Rosa Fernández, from the Utopía de las Artes Group; Alicia Moreno Gómez, one of Fabiola’s primary school classmates; and Eufrasio Cantero, one of her teachers, took part in the readings. The programme also included poems dedicated to the author, a song and a dramatised reading of several of her texts.
The tribute brought together family members, teachers and local people, and brought to light an unpublished piece that Fabiola wrote when she was just 13 years old
One of the most moving moments came, in fact, courtesy of Eufrasio Cantero. The former teacher read out Junto al Fuego, an unpublished short story that Fabiola wrote when she was just 13 years old. He later gave the family other pieces of writing by the young girl that he had kept from that time, thus bringing to light further documents from a literary career cut short far too soon.
The event concluded with tributes to individuals and organisations that have helped to preserve her memory, including Antonio Quero, Eufrasio Cantero, Riogordo council, IES Alta Axarquía, Emilia Pascual, Antonio Gavilán and Silvia Lozano.
Juan Gavilán thanked the large audience for attending and summarised the purpose of the tribute, which aims to ensure that Fabiola remains present through the things she loved most: books, poetry and the opportunity to pave the way for other young people who wish to write.