English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 8 December 2017 — The essayist, literary critic, semiotician and translator, Desiderio Navarro, died Thursday in Havana, at 69 years of age as a result of cancer that, for the last year, had prevented him from appearing in public. Navarro, born in Camagüey in 1948, was a renowned polyglot and poet, as well … Continue reading “Desiderio Navarro Dies, the “Lone Ranger” of Cuban Semiotics”
Dear Friends and Comrades: Suddenly, more than thirty years after his dismissal, Luis Pavón, ex-president of the National Council of Culture during the euphemistically called “Five Grey Years,” reappeared in the public sphere on nothing more nor less than an entire programme on National Television dedicated to “his cultural impact on Cuban culture.” So, was … Continue reading “Messages of Desiderio Navarro / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
Based on what aesthetic criteria, according to the debaters, do the political experts perpetrate under our noses the native performance of the most cultured State in the world that is left to die by the concept of a hunger striker ignorant in art? Thanking you in advance for your eloquent silence. Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, … Continue reading “OPEN LETTER TO PÍTER ORTEGA Y DESIDERIO NAVARRO”
Translator’s note: This article appeared in the Havana Times two days ago in Spanish and has not yet appeared in its English edition. Following is an English translation prepared on HemosOido.com, which will certainly differ in some respects — as all translations do — from the one ultimately posted in the Havana Times. UPDATE — … Continue reading “POOR LITTLE DESIDERIO, HELD HOSTAGE IN A CHRISTMARX TOWER / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
This video shows the faces of the State Security Agents who blocked the door to the event. Dissidents Expelled from the Presentation of Criterios Magazine From Diario de Cuba Cuban State Security told Orlando Luis Pardo, Leonardo Calvo and Juan Antonio Madrazo that the activity was ’cultural’ and they did not belong ’to the world … Continue reading “Desiderio’s Employees* (Identifying them) / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
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”
14ymedio, Havana, April 13, 2023 — Cuban writer, journalist and publisher Eduardo Heras León, National Prize for Literature in 2014, passed away this Thursday in Havana at the age of 82. Founder of the Onelio Jorge Cardoso Literary Training Center, he was one of the intellectuals “parameterized”* during the so-called Grey Quinquennium, the Five Grey … Continue reading “Cuban Writer Eduardo Heras Leon, ‘Counterrevolutionary’ and Loyal to Fidel Castro, Dies”
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 19 June 2022 — When I met Desiderio Navarro he was already an old man worn out by cancer. He used crutches and had little muscle left, little desire to speak. I did not know—he did—that the entire “universe” of Criterios*, the magazines, books, and translations, was about to disappear, to the relief … Continue reading “Fifteen Years of a ‘Little Grey War’”
14ymedio, Sol Garcia Basulto, Camaguey, 14 February 2016 – Perseverance and optimism are Juan Antonio Garcia Borrero’s inseparable allies. Only the perseverance of this movie critic who is passionate about new technologies has allowed him to pull off the First Meeting on Audiovisual Culture and Digital Technologies in Camagüey. The event, censored last November, took place … Continue reading “Camagüey’s “innovative potential” / 14ymedio, Sol Garcia Basulto”
CULTURE-CUBA: Exorcising the Ghosts of the Past By Dalia Acosta HAVANA, 23 February 2007 (IPS) – The expansion of a debate among a group of intellectuals in Cuba that began as an e-mail discussion at the beginning of the year would seem to demonstrate the need to bury once and for all the cultural restrictions … Continue reading “Feb 2007 Article About the Intellectual Debate”
The Intellectual Debate [This article originally posted on TranslatingCuba.com in July 2014] In January and February 2007, a series of texts circulated through emails among many Cuban intellectuals. Coming to be known as “The little war of emails,” or “The Intellectual Debate,” these emails formed a virtual historic debate on Cuba’s cultural policies over the previous 48 … Continue reading “Polemica Intelectual 2007 / 2007 Intellectual Debate: An Introduction”
A restaurant catering to a thousand Russians. Or is it for the geriatric and diplomatic sets? Is the Cold War still with us? HAVANA, Cuba — A few months ago there was a rumor making the rounds of the Cuban capital. A new Russian restaurant was about to open in Havana. The place, to be … Continue reading “Tabarich: Nostalgia for Soviet Russia / Polina Martinez Shvietsova”
Before anything else, please forgive me for entering so late into the discussion. My life is very complicated precisely because of the climate of indifference, incapacity and/or corruption that I see confirmed in all the applications to the housing “machine”. I am appalled! I mention it because in my opinion what brought an end to … Continue reading “Marina Ochoa’s Messages / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
It took five minutes of broadcast television for his brief resurrection to send a shudder to Havana. In January 2007, the first broadcast of Impronta (Imprint), a space that sought to the highlight relevant names of Cuban culture, generated amazement and protests. Those who saw this very short program couldn’t get over their shock or … Continue reading “Luis Pavon Tamayo: Symphony in Grey Minor / Norge Espinosa”
The Intellectual Debate In January and February 2007, a series of texts circulated through emails among many Cuban intellectuals. These emails formed a virtual historic debate on Cuba’s cultural policies over the previous 48 years. The digital magazine Consenso collected this email debate and posted it in one place. This site will provide, email by email, author … Continue reading “The Intellectual Debate: Background / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”