English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
The car passes without stopping and she turns her eyes straight ahead, to the deserted road. She begins to raise her arm to look at her watch, but stops herself. Knowing what time it is will only make her worry more. And the worries age her. Her ex used to say that the you had … Continue reading “Life of Sisyphus – Part Eight”
The First Act: The Executioner’s Weeping (1999) For a long time, Jorge Gonzalez, 47, suffered the same nightmares. A discharge from a rifleman on a misty and starless night. Then, he senses the sound of a shot dealt to a condemned man who is he himself. He always wakes up the same: bathed in sweat … Continue reading “A Drama in Two Acts”
If bad luck had a name it would be Antonio Fonseca. An enormous black man of almost 400 pounds, with a wide nose, sharp cheekbones and lips two fingers thick, who was born one cold, wet night in January 1981. His mother, stark raving mad, set her husband and son on fire, when the latter was … Continue reading “Bad Luck”
The new influenza is gaining ground in Cuba. With the change in the weather, according to epidemiologists, it’s expected that the H1N1 virus will reap its harvest among the population of the island. As of October 1, the Ministry of Public Health reported the detection of 457 cases. Now the Hubert de Blanck High School, … Continue reading “H1N1 Attacks”
Not his fault. Jacques Rogge was born in Belgium. And everyone knows: in Europe, baseball is a sport that doesn’t draws crowds. Unlike football (or “soccer” as they call it in the U.S.). The International Olympic Committee president prefers other sports for the summer Olympics. In London, 2012, baseball has already been eliminated. Many hope … Continue reading “Jacques Rogge Does Not Like Baseball”
He knocked on my door when the Brazilian soap opera was starting. He was sweating, after climbing several flights of stairs with his bike in tow. “I’m going to Spain,” he cried, by way of greeting. To give me time to get over my surprise he greeted my wife, returned the USB drive we were … Continue reading “Adiós, Roberto!”
Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 24 July 2009 — The idea of combining study with work in high schools looked very good on paper. It had the air of an immortal future in the office where they turned it into a ministerial order. But reality, stubborn as always, had its own interpretation of the schools in the … Continue reading “Adios to Schools in the Countryside / Yoani Sanchez”
She walks slowly towards the exit of the neighborhood. The sun burns. Her skin suffers from the accumulation of lesions. In the mornings she looks in the mirror and discovers a new spot, small wrinkles on her temple, or a sprout of gray hairs, noting that the years, the house, the kids, the tension, the … Continue reading “Life of Sisyphus – Part Six”
She enters her apartment and sits in front of the fan trying desperately to stop her sweating, her body just not breathing through her clothes. She looks for her hose and begins filling the water tank in the kitchen and, after, the one on the balcony. Although the pump howls as if it were going … Continue reading “The Life of Sisyphus – Part 4”
On January 25, 2007, critic and achiever Enrique Colina took part in the interchange between Cuban intellectuals which ended up being known as the “e-mail wars.” I use the word interchange in a calculated way because I don’t think what happened was a true debate. If we discount the declaration issued by the Secretariat … Continue reading “Colina’s List”
Author: Sindo Pacheco On September 15th, 1980, at 75 years of age, Fabricio Campoamores’s heart got bored from so much beating. After going through the famous tunnel, the one those who have returned from death talk so much about, Fabricio found himself in an open field facing a steep hill, whose slope, covered in a … Continue reading “Fabricio’s second death”
Breaking: The Russians are coming back to Cuba, this time as tourists and with hard currency. And these last few days there has also been a fleet of enormous Russian ships, bristling with weaponry and radar, at anchor in Havana’s port. The intentions of both governments are clear. Castro II wants to ask for a … Continue reading “Russia is Coming Back”
The guardian angel of today is Abilio Estévez. Playwright, storyteller and poet, well-known and a winner of literary awards, this Cuban who lives in Barcelona has published mid-year the novel The Sleeping Navigator, the final part of a trilogy that examines three tragic moments of a family and a city. A family that tries, without … Continue reading “Nothing makes us different”
December 7, 1990 was an ordinary Friday in New York City. Nothing unusual changed the rhythm of life flowing in the Big Apple. In his apartment crowded with books, the writer Reinaldo Arenas prepared to put an end to his life. Sick with AIDS, he’d concentrated his energies on finishing his novel, The Color of … Continue reading “Reinaldo Arenas in memoriam”
To you, dear visitor, who came to this blog by accident or on purpose, invited by Yoani or fulfilling orders from above. You’ve spent some of your precious time to come up here and leave a comment, a counsel, some words of encouragement. I want to tell you that I have not thought about abandoning … Continue reading “Thank you very much”