Cuba fuera de los mapas
“Cuba, Cuba en este mapa está en todas partes sin jerarquías y por esta razón, no está en ninguna”(29). Así lo asegura Iván de la Nuez en La balsa perpetua, …
Literature /literatura
Essay /ensayo
Seven Days in Havana
As Cubana de Aviación flight number 153 to Havana slopes away from the shiny beaches of Cancún, I strike up a conversation with the young Afro-Cuban man sitting next to…
Kafka en la Habana Vieja
El Período Especial en Tiempos de Paz ha proporcionado material temático a un considerable número de obras literarias y cinematográficas, de autores y artistas tanto cubanos como extranjeros. El común…
Not Free But Comfy: Cuban Art Between State and Market
“The state artist recognizes that the only freedom within the socialist system is that of participation” Miklós Haraszti, The Velvet Prison: Artists Under State Socialism (1987) More Equal than Others…
“Cruzando puentes”… Literature as Translation
On this too rare occasion—the publication of an English-language anthology featuring selected poems and short fiction from a dozen of Spain’s best contemporary writers —I have the pleasure of commenting…
Álvaro Mutis (1923-2013), In Memoriam Un gigante que se alimenta de leyendas
Fragmento de la conferencia pronunciada por Adolfo Castañón el pasado 26 de agosto para celebrar los 90 años de Álvaro Mutis en un acto organizado por la Universidad Nacional de…
Cars Are The Bones of Everything, The Runes of my Life Love Cars
I could tell you I’m interested in cars, but that sounds all wrong in terms of their place in my life. I’m interested in a lot of things: Irish history,…
Shadow
Sombra
English translation by Dave Oliphant Soy como el hombre que vendió su sombra, o mejor, como la sombra del hombre que la vendió. Fernando Pessoa Every day we attest to…
Sex, Sexuality, Eroticism
Sexo, sexualidad, erotismo
Translated by Carol Polsgrove and Paloma Fernández Sánchez (from El lado oscuro: ensayos sobre violencia) From the editorial meeting emerged the topic: writing an essay on sex. I took…
Beware Walmart’s Role in the Gun Control Debate
En el debate sobre el control de armas, cuidado con Walmart
As Vice President Joe Biden plotted his task force’s plan of action on gun control this week, he invited Walmart representatives to the White House to talk about it. That…
From Classic Dilemmas For Mexicans And Other Survivors Democracy of The Nameless Dead
English translation by Tanya Huntington An alleged democracy that is not anchored, first and foremost, in a sympathetic awareness of the dignity of man is reduced to nothing more than…
From The Book of Explanations Instinct Enraptured by Pain
English translation by Tanya Huntington The body stretches out in bed. Eyes open to gaze at the curtain and the thread of daylight that crosses over to the white wall.…
