Monagas, Pepe

   The creation of journalist Pancho Guerra (Francisco Guerra Navarro) (1909–61), the fictional character Pepe Monagas has come to epitomize the picaresque in the Canary Islander. Los cuentos famosos de Pepe Monagas (Famous Tales of Pepe Monagas), first published in the daily press, have since been re-issued in book form together with Guerra's Memorias de Pepe Monagas (The Memoirs of Pepe Monagas) (1958) and his posthumous Siete entremeses de Pepe Monagas (Seven Interludes with Pepe Monagas, 1962). In part the literary character and the speech idioms of Pepe Monagas were inspired by Canarian comedian and actor José Castellano (1904–67) who, as a fellow member of the Sociedad de Amigos del Arte Nestor de la Torre (Nestor de la Torre Society of Friends of the Arts) with Guerra, also portrayed Pepe Monagas on the stage.

   M. R. EDDY