English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Eliecer Avila, Havana, 14 December 2015 – The Astonished Pupil is a recent program on Cuban TV directed by Iroel Sanchez. The show continues the logic that has characterized Sanchez in recent years. Every time the gentleman opens his mouth it is to speak badly of everything modern, free and useful, from the internet and … Continue reading “The Inebriated Pupil / 14ymedio, Eliecer Avila”
I want to thank my friend and excellent writer, Amir Valle, for this interview for his magazine Another Monday, and for publicizing the book that has just been published and will be presented shortly in Miami. Amir Valle (AV): Machine for Erasing Humanities is, after Feeding the Dog-Fight, your second book since you went into exile. Although some think … Continue reading ““There is no homeland other than poetry” / Luis Felipe Rojas”
14ymedio, Victor Ariel Gonzalez, Havana, 30 March 2015 — The Surprised Pupil is a program whose first mistake is the name. With quite mediocre staging, presentation and content, really this television program has nothing surprising to see. But to hear, maybe some viewer or another was hoping that its most recent on-air output would tackle … Continue reading “The Censors Talk about Censorship / 14ymedio, Victor Ariel Gonzalez”
CENSORSHIP WITHOUT CENSORING Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo 2003 was a deadly year for Cuba. In March, the government declared an open war on the citizens. In less than a few hours, the Police arrested over a hundred peaceful dissidents and independent journalists from all across the island. Although the international press nicknamed the most notable … Continue reading “Book Fair or Fidel of the Books / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Literature has its decorum, as do those who live by it. José Martí Nelton Pérez is a Cuban writer who recently won the Alejo Carpentier prize, which is the highest literary award for writers on a national scale, and also the best financially-endowed prize, comparable only to the Casa de las Américas International Prize. His winning … Continue reading “A Writer With More Talent Than Fear / Angel Santiesteban”
Speech by OLPL in Kenney Auditorium, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Washington DC, 16 May 2014. Dear friends: As a Cuban from the Island —and all Cubans are, no matter how far and how much time has passed since we left or were expelled from the Island—, as a critical intellectual —that … Continue reading “OLPL Speaks at Johns Hopkins / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Angel Santiesteban Prats dedicates this article to Guillermo Vidal, to remember the tenth anniversary of his death. He wrote it from the Lawton Prison Settlement for the column “Some Write” from the digital magazine “OtroLunes” (“Another Monday”). By Angel Santiesteban Prats It’s always a pleasure to remember Guillermo Vidal. Sharing with him the adventure of … Continue reading “Guille, The Macho Guajiro / Angel Santiesteban”
With the recent presentation in Europe of my novel “The Summer When God Was Sleeping”, which won the Internation Franz Kaka Prize for Novels from the Drawer, convened in the Czech Republic, and the resumé of awards which accompany me, you could think that I am a very lucky writer when it comes to awards, … Continue reading “Prison Diary LXII: Award-Winning and Censored Books / Angel Santiesteban”
HAVANA, Cuba , October, www.cubanet.org – In the program “Passage to the Unknown” — Sunday nights on Cubavision — they aired a documentary that showed that young Cubans are last in line in the digital world. Among surprised and crazy faces, the segment showed a young woman on the street gathering opinions about Facebook, a … Continue reading “Facebook: Unknown to Most Cubans / Jorge Olivera Castillo”
Yes, it would appear that the themes discussed yesterday at the Casa de las Américas [an institution in Havana to promote inter-cultural links with other countries <transl.>] were not of interest for the future of Cuban culture and thought. It seems like they were trying to mend fences (with every justification) with some of the … Continue reading “Conference for Over-40s in the Casa de las Americas / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate, Isbel Diaz Torres”
As has been my custom, yesterday I went to “Last Thursday,” the space of the magazine Temas (Themes). The theme of Temas was quite attractive to me: Internet, social networks, culture. I arrive late so I missed the presentation of the invited guests, among whom I recognized Iroel Sanchez, former president of the Cuban Book … Continue reading “Silver Invitation / Regina Coyula #Cuba”
This article- written by Luis Felipe Rojas Rosabal- was published on the digital newspaper “Diario de Cuba” on August 23rd, 2012. Every so often I cleanse my soul and body. Better said: I cleanse the area around my body, because I can’t cleanse my soul any more. I organize the room where I write in … Continue reading “Trash / Luis Felipe Rojas”
The sad news has come to me that Ibrahim Doblado died. And after recalling our jokes, complicity and sympathy, I felt relief for him. Unfortunately for many years he was abandoned. For the government, of course, it will just be one less writer, which is the same thing as: one less enemy. He was one … Continue reading “Ibrahim Doblado: One Less Writer / Ángel Santiesteban”
by Ernesto Santana Zaldívar HAVANA, Cuba, June, www.cubanet.org – In the ’90s, the generation of the Novísimos (the Newest) brought to Cuban literature themes and narrative forms that marked a certain rupture with the previous generations. Angel Santiesteban, born in 1966, became one of the most emblematic creators of this time, not only for the … Continue reading “Now I feel more free in my conscience: Interview with the writer Ángel Santiesteban / Ángel Santiesteban”
More than 10 years must have passed since I met Juan Antonio Garcia Borrero. During those years, I participated in the cinema critique sessions which, along with Luciano Castillo, would take place in his native Camaguey. A swarm of youths would move from diverse universities throughout the country to see some good cinema and to … Continue reading “Juani, the Marvels of Having a Blog / Luis Felipe Rojas”
