English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Editor’s note This is going to be a long but necessary post. From the La Lima prison, where he currently finds himself serving a five-year imprisonment which the government imposed in a rigged trial in order to condemn him for a common crime that he did not commit, we have received these responses by the … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban: To Proven Innocence, Manifest Disloyalty”
A couple of weeks ago my friend, the poet Rafael Alcides, published a text… as a way to air the case of Ángel Santiesteban Prats. I responded to him immediately, “You are wrong, Master…” Alcides sent me this text that I want to share with you about the opportunistic response of eight Cuban writers, affiliated … Continue reading “To Redress a Wrong / Luis Felipe Rojas”
I believe I have successfully crossed the threshold of the 21st Century, a century that I prefer to believe more inclusive, comprehensive, and cohesive. After having been educated in certain social and ideological intolerance, I’ve gotten past them. My lesbian friends — they aren’t my friends so I can be “tuned in” — rather because … Continue reading “The Violence that Touches Us / Regina Coyula”
Amir, listen, I was remembering a lot of intellectuals we respected and loved who on many occasions went to my house to talk about the interviews you were doing with me because they claimed that you were going to betray me when State Security attacked me. Today I arrived at the conclusion — once again … Continue reading “Blessed are Those Who Have Friends / Angel Santiesteban”
While I was having a conversation with the poet Rafael Alcides on “the human and the divine,” something we do regularly, he reminded me that the terms right and left, as applied to different political positions, appeared in Cuba at the beginning of the 1920s as a reaction to the Russian revolution of 1917. Never … Continue reading “Two Outdated Terms / Fernando Damaso #Cuba”
When the funeral cortege left the chapel in Cerro with the body of the political leader Oswaldo Payá, having barely advanced a few yards, it was stopped for some twenty minutes. Something happened at the beginning of the caravan. Several people got out of the car to find out what; we feared the worse although … Continue reading “Detention of Antonio Rodiles: Guilty of the Free "Estado de Sats" / Ángel Santiesteban”
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental changes. This obliges us, from civil society, to seek and demand our … Continue reading “Citizen Demand for Another Cuba – 536 Signatures and Counting”
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental changes. This obliges us, from civil society, to seek and demand our … Continue reading “For Another Cuba – Citizen Demand for Another Cuba”
Courtesy of Rafael Alcides for Bad Handwriting For you I could not ask, Laura Pollán, that you rest in peace like we do for the currently deceased, because you will never rest in peace. On the contrary. Pollen deposited by the wind on plazas and streets in its new form of life which for you … Continue reading “SECULAR PRAYER FOR LAURA POLLÁN / Regina Coyula”
Before the end of this hectic 2010, I wish all readers health and prosperity in the new year. Some responses to messages you have sent me are still pending, some requiring deeper analysis than a few lines. I assure you I will reply in a few days, as soon as I can sit down and … Continue reading “Miracles and Coincidences / Miriam Celaya”
Photo: Ana Gloria Lucas Today I honored my grandfather, but we must also celebrate life. Today is the birthday of poet Raul Rivero. I am posting this photo without editing it, because Raul celebrates among his friends Ramón Fernández Larrea, Pío Serrano, Manuel Díaz Martínez, Miguel Rivera and Rafael Alcides. November 23, 2010
Dear Pablo you are in my heart even if I never see you: They tell me (I do not read the press) that you made some statements days ago, where you admitted the need to straighten out some things in Cuban socialism, you ended up urging Fidel and Raul, almost forbidding them, they said, to … Continue reading “From Rafaeil Alcide to Pablo Milanés / Regina Coyula”
This is the third issue of La Rosa Blanca, you have to walk a lot in order to publish it, and walk even more to deliver it in a country mute and without internet. Every issue of La Rosa Blanca, which I’ll post in this blog as I’ve done before, since I don’t have any … Continue reading “The Third Issue of La Rosa Blanca Magazine / Henry Constantín”
I saw him. It was he. He did not recognize me, engrossed as he was, in a bar on Belascoaín Street, listening to one of Orlando Contreras’ boleros, or perhaps it was La Lupe, with “Yours is Pure Theater,” on a decrepit, recycled RCA Victor record player. It was 4:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, September 8. An almost desert-like … Continue reading “The Poet Was Listening to Boleros”
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 1 May 2023 – To celebrate the centenary of the Cuban author Fina García Marruz, who died in June 2022, the Spanish publishing house Huso has reprinted her book Pequeñas memorias [Little Memories], which they first published in 1955. Wife of essayist Cintio Vitier and member of Grupo Orígenes, García Marruz … Continue reading “‘Eros and Politics’, by the Irreverent Juan Abreu, Stands Out Amongst Books by Cuban Authors Published in April”
