English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 10 March 2015 — Let’s call him Hermes. Everything he says is said in private. I will not reveal his identity but, given the positions he has held, it is worth listening to what he has to say. We all know these are confusing times, but imagine how much more confusing … Continue reading “What if Fidel Were to Survive Raul? / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”
Imagine you are at a party where a suckling pig is being roasted and all of a sudden, at the height of the festivities, Raúl Castro comes along with a bucket of water and douses out the fire. I cannot conjure a more apt image to illustrate the effect the army general’s speech at the Community … Continue reading “A Bucket of Cold Water / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”
CubaNet, RAFAEL ALCIDES, Havana, 3 February 2015 – In the Havana of recent days, hope and despair continue to grow. Hope, in the people: who have already begun to paint and fix up their houses, with visions of the peaceful invasion by the Americans of the future. Because, it is said with much authority, without … Continue reading “The Smell of Money / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”
Whatever the Cuban government does, that amorphous thing with no head or eyes, that they call “the masses,” is in its final days. And with it are also ending the repudiation rallies, detentions, physical attacks on the Ladies in White, and other forms of repression. Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 29 January 2015 — In the … Continue reading “The Last Days of That Amorphous Thing Called “The Masses” / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”
Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 13 January 2015 — Following the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with the United States, Havana has become a cauldron of ideas about how we could have elections by secret and direct ballot – an exciting thing to contemplate. Many here see it happening right around the corner, maybe within a few … Continue reading “The Communist Party in the New Cuba / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”
By Rafael Alcides — It’s December 17th. The majority (and right now there are about 30 of us in line at the pharmacy) is celebrating the agreements between Raul and Obama; if there had been firecrackers, they would have lit them. Anyway, implicating everyone with her finger, a woman with a child in tow and a voice … Continue reading “Capitalism Straight Away, or the Chinese Method First? / Rafael Alcides”
The Quixotic Soul of Rafael Alcides For Luis Rafael An emotional Havana evening, the kind which seals memory with a light of fire, I met the poet Rafael Alcides Pérez (Barrancas, 1933). Choosing to remain anonymous, as is his custom, he was in the audience which was attending the launch of my poem-book Colómbico, being … Continue reading “The Poet Rafael Alcides Dedicates his Presentation to the Unjustly Jailed Writer Angel Santiesteban”
I present to you here the article that writer and poet Rafael Alcides published in the blog Penúltimos Días about the judicial farce mounted against Angel Santiesteban with the sole and hidden objective of silencing his critical and damning voice about the Castro dictatorship. I ask readers to read this article knowing that Rafael expresses … Continue reading “Rafael Alcides about the Official Novel against Angel Santiesteban”
My husband is not just any writer. He belongs to the generation known as “The Generation of the ’50s,” a rather arbitrary poetic grouping that started with Carilda Oliver (1922) and ran through David Chericián (1940). His generation’s peers — if they haven’t died or emigrated — have received the National Literature Prize and enjoyed … Continue reading “Rafael Alcides, Who is a Very Important Person / Regina Coyula”
Yesterday the Cuban poet Rafael Alcides Perez turned 80; he remains in Havana as a poor, strong and gentle grandfather; lucid amid the social madness and literary closure, oblivious to personal egos and tribal tantrums. He knew fame and tasted applause from his younger years, when he joined in the swarm of those poets of … Continue reading “Silence and Poetry in Rafael Alcides / Miguel Iturria Savon”
Rafael Alcides collects more than thirty years of yellowing manuscript that he likes to call his originals. In red cardboard folders, they fill a two door cabinet. Eighteen years ago, pregnant with Rafael, (at this point, if readers have not discovered, Alcides is my husband) I found among those old papers a tome that I … Continue reading “Finally, the First Novel of Rafael Alcides / Regina Coyula”
Regina Coyula, 8 November 2018 — Contracastro, the novel by Rafael Alcides, will be presented on Monday, 12 November, at the Book Fair. I promise you the reading will not leave you indifferent. The location is 300 NE Second Avenue, Edif. 3-2do, downtown Miami.
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Camagüey, 17 February 2018 — When the list of Cuban writers excluded from the National Literature Prize is drawn up, Rafael Almanza Alonso will have to be placed at the top. An intellectual too Catholic in his ethics, very avant-garde in his work and excessively civic in his social activity to be promoted … Continue reading “The Blasts of Rafael Almanza”
Regina Coyula, 14 June 2017– Jorge Enrique Lage interviews Miguel Coyula (excerpts) 4 … at many times during the interview, Alcides interrupted himself and began to speak to Fidel as if he were right in front of him. It’s something one saw a lot in our parents’ generation: bothered by something Fidel was saying on TV … Continue reading “Citizen Kastro-Citizen Alcides / Regina Coyula”
By Carlos Manuel Álvarez, published in Univision News, 19 May 2016 Published in Malaletra, a Blog Made in Cuba, Regina Coyula, 11 July 2016 He looks like a god but is a heretic. He seems carved in stone, but is a nervous wreck. He looks like the first among men, but is just the last … Continue reading “The Reclusive Poet / Carlos Manuel Alvarez, Regina Coyula”
