Search Results for “Lezama lima”

A Documentary Rescues the Writer Lezama Lima from the Clutches of the Cuban Regime

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 21 August 2022 — In order to “stir up the anthill,” on the 45th anniversary of the death of Cuban writer José Lezama Lima (1910-1976), last Sunday the filmmaker Ernesto Fundora, at the Rosario Castellanos Bookstore of the Fund for Economic Culture, in Mexico City, screened his documentary “Lezama Lima: Soltar la … Continue reading “A Documentary Rescues the Writer Lezama Lima from the Clutches of the Cuban Regime”

40 Years Without Lezama Lima / Luis Felipe Rojas

Luis Felipe Rojas, 9 August 2016 — He was the son of a colonel in the army, but was born to be the literary father to several generations. José Lezama Lima departed this life on 9 August 1976, and left a vast canon of work in which he wanted to embrace literary criticism, poetry, and narrative (stories … Continue reading “40 Years Without Lezama Lima / Luis Felipe Rojas”

Lezama Lima vs. Moscow / Francis Sanchez

Almost thirty years after the fall of the communist bloc, the Cuban writer José Lezama Lima is still dealing with “Moscow” through the ongoing influence of the Soviet Union, to which he himself fell victim, dying after having been ostracized after the principles of dialectical materialism were brought to bear on him. Though long dead and … Continue reading “Lezama Lima vs. Moscow / Francis Sanchez”

‘To Write the Biography of Lezama is to Write a History of Cuban Culture’

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 2 January 2022 — In a calm voice, Ernesto Hernández Busto (Havana, 1968) says that, at the funeral of José Lezama Lima, an alleged spy filmed everything with a camera. The video, which no one has seen, must have been hidden in the secret archives of ICAIC [Cuban Institute of Cinematographic … Continue reading “‘To Write the Biography of Lezama is to Write a History of Cuban Culture’”

A LEZAMA FOR MOPPING (DUPING) / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

FROM “THE FLIGHT OF THE CAT”* TO YOUR MOTHER’S TWAT** Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo There’s the lyrical Lezama Lima, of unintelligible flight, before whose spirals we bow because to read them would be in vain, and a pain. And good for us. That Lezamian lyricism never had much success, except for quoting and thus accumulating … Continue reading “A LEZAMA FOR MOPPING (DUPING) / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

Lezama’s Hundredth Birthday / Regina Coyula

I still remember my first encounter with Lezama. In 1973, a bookshelf in my first office called my attention (another bookshelf, not one I already I mentioned) packed with a single book. The same book from the collection Cuban Letters filled three shelves. In the time I worked there, no one took a single one … Continue reading “Lezama’s Hundredth Birthday / Regina Coyula”

The 14 Most Important Cuban Books of 2025

Novels, essay, and poetry in a year of memory, critique, and literary resistance 14ymedio, Havana, January 10, 2026 — Cuban literature in 2025 once again demonstrated that, even in a context of editorial scarcity, censorship, and geographic dispersion, books remain one of the most effective tools for thinking about the country. From the Island and from … Continue reading “The 14 Most Important Cuban Books of 2025”

The Cuban Regime’s Cultural Commissars Discover the Podcast

Abel Prieto announces that his podcast will be “anti-fascist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist, Latin Americanist, Caribbean and ‘Lezamian’.” 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 20 August 2025 — La Casa de las Américas has decided to join the podcast craze in Cuba. On its X and Facebook profiles, the institution’s president, Abel Prieto Jiménez, announced that they will … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime’s Cultural Commissars Discover the Podcast”

Cafés

The famous Mejunje was never a cafe, but rather a well-crafted platform for intersex hustlerism. 14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 29 June 2025 — I go to the Novelty—I never go to the Novelty—the café owned by Unamuno and Torrente-Ballester, although I’m not a fan of either. Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor bustles with tourists and people who, … Continue reading “Cafés”

The ‘Five Grey Years’ Kept Going Much Longer Than a Decade, Primarily Because of Fidel Castro / Cubanet, Luis Cino

That dark, inquisitorial period lasted much more than five years. It did not, as some would like to pretend, end in 1976. Cubanet, Luis Cino, Havana, 7 June 2025 – It was the late essayist Ambrosio Fornet who coined the term, “The Five Grey Years,” to refer to the repression of artists and intellectuals during … Continue reading “The ‘Five Grey Years’ Kept Going Much Longer Than a Decade, Primarily Because of Fidel Castro / Cubanet, Luis Cino”

Something That Has Deeply Affected Cuban Literature Is Fear

14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 22 May 2025 — Madrid starts the week in full swing with Cuban literature. On Tuesday, Carlos Celdran presented his book -with two plays- at the Arenales bookstore. A day later, Roberto Carcassés presented his first novel at El Argonauta, while Leonardo Padura attended the presentation of Un camino de … Continue reading “Something That Has Deeply Affected Cuban Literature Is Fear”

‘Under the Table,’ Juan Abreu’s Best Blow to the Ghost of Cuba

Anger and tenderness are the themes of this book; the rest is literature 14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 22 March 2025 — José Lezama Lima’s epitaph was supposed to be a phrase by Flaubert— “All lost, nothing lost” — which he ended up replacing with his own verses. When a Cuban reads Juan Abreu’s Debajo de … Continue reading “‘Under the Table,’ Juan Abreu’s Best Blow to the Ghost of Cuba”

Exclusive at the Havana Book Fair: A Work by Lydia Cabrera, Exiled and Banned by Fidel Castro

Organizers complain that foreign writers ask for royalties in dollars 14ymedio, Havana, 9 February 2025 — Havana/ A book by Cuban ethnologist Lydia Cabrera appeared on Friday on the official Round Table TV program. The silence of the guests about the book, one of the novelties of the International Book Fair, was only broken by … Continue reading “Exclusive at the Havana Book Fair: A Work by Lydia Cabrera, Exiled and Banned by Fidel Castro”

Surveillance, Reluctance and the Omnipresent Garbage Overshadow the Celebration of July 26 in Cuba

“They put a policeman every ten meters around the block where the Party’s hotel is located” 14ymedio, Mercedes García/Juan Diego Rodríguez, Sancti Spíritus, 26 July 2024 — This Friday there is no rebellion but much reluctance and indifference to the most important anniversary of the regime. Cubans will not feel like celebrating, but the Police … Continue reading “Surveillance, Reluctance and the Omnipresent Garbage Overshadow the Celebration of July 26 in Cuba”

‘The Main Achievement of the Cuban Revolution Is Its Exile’

Writer Jorge Ferrer narrates the traces of totalitarianism in three generations of his family 14ymedio, Madrid, 3 June 2024 — “There are many ways to have encountered the Russian and Cuban revolutions, and end up hurt by them. A lot,” says Jorge Ferrer (b. Havana, 1967). The writer and translator wanted to investigate the stories … Continue reading “‘The Main Achievement of the Cuban Revolution Is Its Exile’”