Search results for: padilla

My Point of View / Eliseo Alberto Diego – "Lichi" / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate

“When I close the door, I never know whether I’m inside or outside.” (Judith Vázquez) I open the door. The unexpected and inexplicable (and as yet unexplained) return to TV of Jorge Papito Serguera, El Gordo Quesada and Luis Pavón Tamayo, a.k.a. (some say) Leopoldo Ávila, has awoken a logical agitation in Cuban intellectual circles, … Continue reading “My Point of View / Eliseo Alberto Diego – "Lichi" / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”

Absent from the Book Fair / Miguel Iturria Savón

Not even an enormous Persian magic carpet would be big enough to bring to the Havana Book Fair, running from February 9th to 19th at La Cabaña, a sample of the extensive work of fiction, poetry, essays and historiography of exiled Cuban writers and those excluded from within the island for reasons other than literary. … Continue reading “Absent from the Book Fair / Miguel Iturria Savón”

SOS for Ángel Santiesteban / Miguel Iturria Savón

On reading, this last August 17, the Declaration of Principles: We Who Are Born With No Horizon, written by the narrator Angel Santiesteban, we understand the uncertainty of the intellectual set upon with absurd allegations concocted by a devastating judicial machinery, incapable of understanding that criminalizing dissent and annulling the freedom of expression threatens human … Continue reading “SOS for Ángel Santiesteban / Miguel Iturria Savón”

WWWAITING FOR THE WWWORMS / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

THE DAWN* OF WAITING Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo José Lezama Lima waited for the death of his mother before feeling guilt-free enough to publish the scandalous Paradiso. Virgilio Piñera waited to amass 18 boxes of unedited material before letting himself die of loneliness or of State Security. Dulce María Loynaz sat down, like a character … Continue reading “WWWAITING FOR THE WWWORMS / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

Closed by Demolition / Francis Sánchez

[I have decided to publish, before this blog is closed down, some texts that I didn’t publish at the time because it was practically impossible to do it because of obvious difficulties or because as time passed I doubted that it would be the best idea. Due to recent events, I think it is best … Continue reading “Closed by Demolition / Francis Sánchez”

The Word Birch / Francis Sánchez

Photo: Francis Sánchez. One day a long time ago, I drew the word birch to my favourite and beloved poet Herberto Padilla, the word which he could never climb in such a short life the place where we had gone running to with our eyes so little we cut ourselves with the crystal of the … Continue reading “The Word Birch / Francis Sánchez”

Meow Meow the Dead / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

He died, in the end, without a name, the poor little high-contrast black and white kitten. He died of hunger and cold despite our sheltering him in a warm cloth with all the warm milk we could drop into his strawberry mouth. Separated from his mother by the mean hand of dim-witted resident of Buenavista … Continue reading “Meow Meow the Dead / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

Improper Conduct / Miguel Iturria Savón

There are those who believe that history is written only by those in power, by means of textbooks, testimonials, biographies, means of communication and other supports of dominance that certify the version of the victors. Cuban history of the 20th Century confirms the rule, but in conflict with the story of the main characters who … Continue reading “Improper Conduct / Miguel Iturria Savón”

Of Absences and Other Troubles / Miguel Iturria Savon

On February 10 the Havana International Book Fair began in the La Cabaña fortress, extended to March 6 in the capital’s bookshops and in the provincial centers of books and literature, which sold more than 2,000 titles of publishers from Cuba and abroad, among them the Bicentennial Alba collection with a score of works from … Continue reading “Of Absences and Other Troubles / Miguel Iturria Savon”

Thoughts on Fidel’s “Words to the Intellectuals” and other texts / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate

– From Josefina de Diego – I confess that I didn’t remember the full text known as “Words to the Intellectuals,” delivered by Fidel Castro on June 30, 1961, at the National Library to a group of intellectuals. I think that, like many people, the only thing I remembered from the text was his famous … Continue reading “Thoughts on Fidel’s “Words to the Intellectuals” and other texts / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”

The Cuban Revolution No Longer Enchants / Iván García

Left behind was the romantic stage, when a notable majority of leftist intellectuals pinned their hopes on the Revolutionary hurricane of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. A Cuba that clouded the reason of heavyweights in the world of letters such as Jean Paul Sartre, Julio Cortázar and José Saramago has lost its steam. The “snob … Continue reading “The Cuban Revolution No Longer Enchants / Iván García”

Concern About the Media Comeback of Luis Pavón / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate

For more information about this series of posts, please click here. From Jorge A. Pomar Are the intellectuals waking up? Everything in Cuba is as rotten as in Hamlet’s Denmark. It all stinks. Even the Horaces of the UNEAC (Cuban Writers and Artists Union) stink. Yet another proof of this is the electronic call to … Continue reading “Concern About the Media Comeback of Luis Pavón / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”

Wikileaks and Empty Archives / Yoani Sánchez

Several weeks ago, in one of those tedious reflections they read on every newscast, I heard about Wikileaks. I know it seems incredible that a blogger, someone who uses the web as a means of expression, would not already know about this site with all the disclosures. But nothing is strange on this “island of … Continue reading “Wikileaks and Empty Archives / Yoani Sánchez”

Cuba Will Have to Put Its Dreams of a Nobel Prize on Hold / Iván García

Communists or dissidents, famous or unknown, Cubans love awards and competitions. Of all kinds, national and foreign. They delight in being chosen and enjoy the glory they feel when they win. It doesn’t matter if the prize is a diploma or a work of art. The money, yes. In pesos, it’s not bad, but in … Continue reading “Cuba Will Have to Put Its Dreams of a Nobel Prize on Hold / Iván García”

The Journalist Reinaldo Escobar Enters the Debate / Polemica, The 2007 Intellectual Debate

“The Little Email War,” “Little Glasnost,” “Rebellion of the Intellectuals” or “The Created Situation,” have been some of the names used to baptize this phenomenon which I prefer to call, “words of the intellectuals” (with the “of” in bold and underlined). Evidently a hole has been opened in this Pandora’s box (which was a gift … Continue reading “The Journalist Reinaldo Escobar Enters the Debate / Polemica, The 2007 Intellectual Debate”