Creative Writers

Iván ACOSTA (b. 1944, Santiago de Cuba): A New York-based playwright, filmmaker and concert producer, Acosta wrote the play that became the basis for the classic Cuban-exile film, El Super, released in 1979. His 1985 film, Amigos, is a comedy about a Mariel refugee trying to make a home in Miami. In 2001, he released the documentary How to Create a Rumba, which uses interviews with Cuban musicians along with videos of their performances to trace the influence of the rumba in Cuban music. It was featured in the Latin Beat film festival at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater. (Cintas for literature, 1979-80)

Magaly ALABAU (b. 1945, Cienfuegos):  A writer as well as an actor and director, Alabau is the author of several collections of poems including Electra, Clitemnestra (1986), La extremaunción diaria (1986), Ras (1987), Hemos llegado a Ilión (1992) and Liebe (1993). She won the Latin Poetry Prize awarded by the Latin American Writers Institute for Hermana/Sister in 1992. As an actress, she has worked with La Mama, Duo Theater and Medusa’s Revenge, the last two experimental theater groups that she co-founded. (Cintas for literature, 1990-91)

Miguel ALASA: An actor, librettist, lyricist and playwright, Alasa’s play, Born to Rumba, ran for 520 performances at Duo Theater in New York, where he is artistic director, and became the longest running production by a U.S. Latino theater company. The musical Peggy and Jackson, which he wrote with composer David Welch, about the life of the artist Jackson Pollock, was presented by Joseph Papp at the Public Theatre. Other Alasa/Welch productions are Studio, Salon and Orphans. Alasa’s most recent piece is Chez Garbo. He is also an actor, and performed in the Broadway/National tours of Hair, Jesus Christ, Superstar, Tommy and Godspell.  He works under the name of Michelangelo Alasa. (Cintas for literature, 1980-81, 1981-82)

Juan ALONSO: (Cintas for literature, 1972-73)

L. Ricardo ALONSO (b. 1929, Parres, Asturias): A lawyer,  journalist and Cuba’s ambassador to several countries in the 1960s, Alonso moved to the United States and joined the faculty of the Spanish department at Franklin and Marshall College. His books include El Candidato, Los Dioses ajenos, El Palacio y la Furia and La estrella que cayó una noche en el mar, which won a literary prize in Spain. (Cintas for literature, 1973-74)

José Manuel ÁLVAREZ (b. 1902, Regla-d. United States): A poet, story teller and journalist as well as a lawyer, Álvarez’s books include Sentido social del urbanismo and Cuentos y crónicas cubanas. As a journalist, he worked for Revista Lex de los Auxiliares del Poder Judicial Cubano, Revista del Casino Español and the literary magazine LEX in Havana, and for Vanguardia, in New York. His work also appeared in several anthologies, including Poetas Jóvenes de Cuba, published in 1923. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

Reinaldo ARENAS (b. 1943-d. 1990 New York City): Arenas’ extensive body of work – novels, poetry, essays and plays – has been translated into a dozen languages and acclaimed the world over. He first won critical attention with the novel Celestino antes del alba, translated as Singing from the Well. The novel was followed by El mundo alucinante or Hallucinations, which was banned in Cuba but published in Mexico in 1969 and honored in France with the Medici Prize as the finest foreign novel of the year. He served two years in a Cuban prison and came to the United States on the Mariel boatlift in 1980. Among his other novels are Otra vez del mar, (Farewell to the Sea), El Central: A Cuban Sugar Mill, and Old Rosa: A Novel in Two Stories. The director Julian Schnabel captured the writers’ life in the 2000 film Before Night Falls, based on Arenas’ book of the same title. (Cintas for literature, 1981-82, 1986-87)

Octavio ARMAND (b. 1946, Guantanamo): Critic, poet, translator and founder and director of the literary magazine Escandalar, Armand’s books include the poetry collections Biografía para reacios; Cosas pasan, Superficies; Oregami; El pez folado and Son de ausencia. Refractions, published in 1994, includes essays as well as poems. (Cintas for literature, 1977-78)

Jesús J. BARQUET (b. 1953, Havana): An associate professor in the Department of Languages and Linguistics at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, Barquet is also a poet and critic and has lectured in various universities in Latin America. He came to the United States on the 1980 Mariel boatlift and received a masters and doctorate in Spanish at Tulane University. His critical work includes the books Consagración de La Habana (Las peculiaridades del Grupo Orígenes en el proceso cultural cubano), which received the Letras de Oro award from the University of Miami in 1991, and  Escrituras poéticas de una nación: Dulce María Loynaz, Juana Rosa Pita y Carlota Caulfield, which received the Lourdes Casal Award in Havana. His poetry collections include Sin Decir el Mar, Sagradas Herejías,  Ícaro, El Libro del Desterrado, El Libro de los Héroes and  Naufragios. Barquet was writer-in-residence at the Altos de Chavón's Residency Program in 1994. (Cintas for literature, 1991-92)

Lourdes BLANCO (b. 1954, Havana): A poet and essayist, Blanco is the author of  Genero y Santidad, the poem Edén and the play  El Tiempo en Juego. She has received various fellowships, including a Whiting Fellowship in the Humanities, a research fellowship from the Social Research Council and a Playwrights in Residence grant from INTAR.  (Cintas for Literature, 2004-2005)

Guillermo CARRIÓN: (Cintas for literature, 1968-69, 1969-70)

Luis CARTAÑÁ (b. 1942, Havana-d. 1989, Miami): Cartañá studied law in Spain, but saw himself primarily as a poet and in 1967 moved to Puerto Rico, where he taught Spanish literature for 20 years at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. In 1986, on leave from the university, he moved to Madrid to pursue further studies in philology, but he became ill two years later, and moved to Miami, where he died. While in Puerto Rico, Cartañá became founding editor of the Jardín de Espejos imprint and participated in the creation of the Confederation of Latin American Writers. His poetry was collected in several volumes, including Canciones Olvidadas, Límites al Mar, La Mandarina y el fuego, Sobre la Música and La Joven Resina. Only days before his death, the Spanish publisher Editorial Betania issued a final book of poems, Permanencia del Fuego. Cartañá won poetry awards from the Association of Puerto Rican Writers and from the Clara Lair poetry contest. (Cintas for literature, 1983)

Doris CASTELLANOS: (Cintas for literature, 1976-77, 1977-78)

Rafael CATALÁ: A poet and essayist, Catalá is one of the editors of the Index of American Periodical Verse. His poetry collections include Caminos/Roads, Círculo cuadrado, Ojo sencillo/Triquitraque and Copulantes. His poetry and essays have been published in magazines and newspapers such as The New York Times, Cuaderno de Norte, Diálogos, Plural, Cuadernos Universitarios and Revista Iberoamericana. In 1983 he directed the Rácata Poetry Workshop at Hostos Community College in New York, which led to the publication of Soles emellis, which he describes as both an anthology of work written during the workshop as well as a guide to producing similar programs. (Cintas for literature, 1984-85)

Carlota CAULFIELD (b. 1953): A poet and critic, Caulfield received her Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese from Tulane University and is associate professor of Hispanic Studies at Mills College. Her nine poetry books include 34th Street and other poems,Book of the XXXIX steps: A poetry game of discovery and imagination CD—ROM and Autorretrato en ojo ajeno. She is also the author of Literary and Cultural Journeys: Selected Letters to Arturo Torres-Rioseco, Web of Memories: Interviews with Five Cuban Poets, and Voces Viajeras. Caulfield’s work has appeared in several literary magazines and anthologies and she has won numerous citations, including the International Poetry Prize Riccardo Marchi-Torre di Calafuria, in Italy and, in 2002, the first Dulce Maria Loynaz Hispanic-American poetry prize for her manuscript Movimentos metálicos para juguetes abandonados. She was a visiting fellow at the University of London’s Institute of Romance Studies in 2002. (Cintas for literature, 1987-88)

Miguel CORREA (b. 1956, Placetas): A professor in the department of Modern Languages at Hostos Communicty College in New York, Correa received his Ph.D. from the Graduate School and University Center in New York, with a dissertation titled Reinaldo Arenas: Imagen del autor implícito desde la textualidad. He has taught St. Peter’s College, Lehman College, Rutgers University and Hunter College. Correa’s critical pieces have appeared in the magazines Letralia,  Espéculo and Fe de Errata. He is the author of two novels, Al Norte del Infierno and Fragmentos del Discurso Humano, which received a first prize award from the Continental Association of Latin America and was a finalist in the Letras de Oro competition sponsored by the University of Miami. He also received the Hunter College Literary Academy Prize for the short story El Corrector. The Firestone Library of Princeton University purchased the original manuscripts of his novels for its permanent collections. (Cintas for literature, 1984-85)

Mercedes CORTÁZAR (b. 1940, Havana): A poet, playwright, novelist and journalist, Cortázar is the editor of the literary Web site Expoescritores (www.expoescritores.com). Her work has been published in literary magazines and newspapers – both printed and on the Web – in Spain, France, the United States and various countries in Latin America. She was the poetry consultant for Farrar, Straus & Giroux, for the English translation of José Lezama Lima’s novel, Paradiso. In New York, in 1962, she was a founder of Protesta, possibly the first literary magazine by Cuban exiles.  (Cintas for literature, 1971-72)

Angel CUADRA (b. Havana): After graduating from the University of Havana, Cuadra practiced law in Cuba until he was imprisoned for his political beliefs. He moved to the United States in 1985 and obtained a master’s degree in Hispanic Studies from Florida International University. Cuadra has taught at FIU and Miami Dade College, where he ran the Spanish-language program of MDC’s Miami International Book Fair. Cuadra became the first Latin American writer to receive the Amantes del Teruel award for poetry. His poetry collections include Peldaño, Impromptus, Tiempo del Hombre, Las Señales y los Sueños, for which he won the Teruel, and Diez Sonetos Ocultos. He is also the author of Escritores en Cuba socialista and José Martí: Análisis y Conclusiones. (Cintas for literature, 1989-90)

Silvia CURBELO (b. 1955, Matanzas): The Tampa-based poet and editor has been published in journals such as American Poetry Review and Kenyon Review and in several anthologies. She is the author of two poetry books, The Geography of Leaving and The Secret History of Water, which became the first volume issued by the Anhinga Press in its Florida Poetry Series. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Arts Council, the Seaside Institute and the Atlantic Center for the Arts.  Curbelo won the Jessica Noble Maxwell Memorial Poetry Prize given by the American Poetry Review and the James Wright Award for Poetry from Mid-American Review. She is managing editor of Organica Quarterly. (Cintas for literature, 1991-92, 1998-99)

Belkis CUZA MALÉ (b. 1942): A poet, essayist and journalist based in Fort Worth, Texas, she is the founder and director of La Casa Azul: Heberto Padilla Cuban Cultural Center, an institution that promotes Cuban literature and art. She is also editor of Linden Lane Magazine, a quarterly literary journal founded in Princeton in 1982, three years after her arrival in the United States. Cuza Malé is the author of El Clavel y la Rosa,  a biography of the 19th century Cuban poet Juana Borrero,  Elvis: The Unquiet Grave or The True Story of Jon Burrows, and  the poetry collections Woman on the Front Lines and Juego de Damas. (Cintas for literature, 1981-82).

Uva de ARAGÓN (b. 1944, Havana): A poet, novelist, essayist and newspaper columnist, de Aragón is also associate editor of Cuban Studies and professor of humanities and assistant director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University FIU.  Her books include Alfonso Hernández-Catá: Un escritor cubano, salamantino y universal; Los Nombres del Amor and Memoria del Silencio, the story of a reunion between Cubans from both sides of the Florida Straits. Memoria del Silencio was one of several books by Cuban exiles presented at the 2002 Guadalajara book fair, which was dedicated to Cuba. She has received many awards, including a Distinguished Author Award from Coalition of Hispanic American Women. De Aragón has a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature from the University of Miami.  (Cintas for literature, 1980-81).

Carlos A. DÍAZ: A poet and novelist, Díaz is the founder of the editorial house La Torre de Papel. (Cintas for literature, 1986-87).

Jesús DÍAZ (b. 1941, Havana-d. 2002, Madrid): At the time of his death, Díaz was editor of Encuentro, a magazine he founded in 1996 to publish the works of Cuban intellectuals from the island and in exile. He was the author of several novels, including Las Iniciales de la Tierra, Las Palabras Perdidas, Siberiana and La Piel y la Máscara. His short story collection, Los Años Duros, won the Casa de las Américas award in 1966. Díaz was also a filmmaker and directed, among others, Lejanía, about an exiled woman who returns to Cuba to visit her son, and 55 Hermanos, the story of young Cuban exiles who returned to their homeland in the 1970s. In Cuba, he was founder and editor of the cultural magazine El Caimán Barbudo. (Cintas for literature, 2000).

Margarita ENGLE (b. 1951, Pasadena, Calif.): A botanist by training, she was a professor of agronomy and an irrigation specialist in Southern California before she turned to writing. Her column is syndicated by Hispanic Link News Service and has appeared in more than 200 U.S. newspapers. Her fiction has been published in many journals and magazines, including The Americas Review and Revista Interamericana. She is the author of two novels, Skywriting and Singing to Cuba. Engle is the winner of the San Diego Book Award. (Cintas for literature, 1994-95)

Amando FERNÁNDEZ (b. 1949, Havana-d. 1994, Miami): A poet and teacher, Fernández published nine collections of poems between 1986 and 1993, including Herir el tiempo,El ruiseñor y la espada and Museo natural. The collections Ciudad, isla invisible and El riesgo calculado, were published posthumously, in 1994. Fernández won several awards for his poetry, among them the Luis de Góngora, the Juan Ramón Jiménez and the Antonio González de Lama prizes. He received a special recognition from the city of Badajoz, Spain, in 1990. Fernández was a graduate of Florida International University and taught at the Interamerican Campus of Miami Dade College. (Cintas for literature, 1987-88)

Roberto G.FERNÁNDEZ (b. 1950, Sagua la Grande): A poet and playwright, Fernández is a professor of modern languages at Florida State University in Tallahassee. His books in Spanish include Cuentos sin rumbo and La montaña rusa. In English, he has written Raining Backwards and Holy Radishes, a satirical novel set in the Florida Everglades. (Cintas for literature, 1986-87)

María Irene FORNÉS (b. 1931, Havana): The author of dozens of plays and winner of several Obie awards, Fornés is one of the most respected names in American theater. In 2000, Off-Broadway's prestigious Signature Theatre Company devoted its 10th anniversary season to her work, which includes Fefu and Her Friends, Mud, Abingdon Square and Letters from Cuba.  With the composer Robert Ashley, Fornés wrote Balseros, an opera based on the experiences of Cuban rafters and their efforts to reach the United States. It premiered in Miami Beach in 1997. Fornés moved from Cuba to New York in 1945; she was originally trained as an artist, but devoted herself to the stage after joining the Judson Poets Theater and the Open Theater in the 1960s. (Cintas for literature, 1967-68)

Ignacio GALBIS (b. 1931 Havana-d. 1997): A graduate of the Havana University School of Law, Galbis practiced law in Cuba, but dedicated himself to teaching once he moved to the United States in 1961. He received a Ph.D. in literature from Syracuse University, and taught literature at Southern California University, Davis University and the University of Riverside, California. He was national executive secretary of the Sigma Delta Pi honor society. Among his publications are Unamuno: Tres personajes existenciales, Baroja: El lirismo de tono menor, and De mío Cid a Alfonso Reyes, perspectivas críticas. His collection of short stories is titled Trece relatos sombríos. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

Cristina GARCÍA (b. 1958, Havana): A former TIME Magazine correspondent in Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles, García is the author of three acclaimed novels, Dreaming in Cuban, The Agüero Sisters and Monkey Hunting, a narrative on the Cuban-Chinese experience that spans five generations and two centuries. She is the editor of Cubanísimo!, an anthology of stories, essays, poems and novel excerpts. García grew up in Brooklyn and attended Barnard College before receiving a master’s degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University and the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award. (Cintas for literature, 1992-93, 1998-99)

Francisco R. GARCÍA (b. 1924, Victoria de las Tunas-d. 1999) A critic and art historian, García was the author of Latin American Painters in New York, Maternity in Pre Columbian Art, Jose Martí y las artes plásticas and Jose Martí y la pintura española, among other works.  García founded Les Petites Galleries and the Galería Cubana de Pintura y Escultura in Havana, and later directed the Sardio Gallery in Caracas and the Cisneros Gallery in New York City. He also directed and edited the magazines Decoración Interior and Artes in Havana, and from 1976 until his death, the newspaper Noticias de Arte, in New York. He was a member of the Círculo de Escritores y Poetas Iberoamericanos. García wrote under the pen name Florencio García Cisneros. (Cintas for literature, 1964-65)

Lorenzo GARCÍA VEGA (b. 1926): The author of several collections of poems, novels and essays, García Vega was honored in 2002 by the Argentine magazine Diario de Poesía for his role as a member of the legendary Cuban literary group Orígenes, and “as an extraordinary writer and exceptional witness to contemporary Cuban history.” His books include the poetry collections Suite para la espera, Ritmos acribillados and Variaciones a como veredicto para sol de otras dudas; the novel Espirales del cuje; and Los Años de Orígenes and Antología de la novela cubana. (Cintas for literature, 1981-82).

Rita GEADA (b. 1934, Pinar del Río): A professor of Spanish literature, Geada received a doctorate from the University of Havana and did post-doctoral work at the University of Buenos Aires. Her short stories and poems, which have been translated into English, Italian, Portuguese and French, have been included in several anthologies. Geada has also published numerous literary essays. Among her poetry collections are Desvelado Slencio, Cuando Cantan las Pisadas, Vertizonte, Otoño en New England, Mascarada, for which she received a Carabela award, and Espejo de la Tierra, which won the 2001 international Luis Santamarina City of Cieza prize. (Cintas for literature, 1978-79)

Lourdes GIL: (b. 1950, Havana): A writer, teacher, editor and journalist, Gil is the author of the poetry collections El cerco de las transfiguraciones, Empieza la Ciudad, Blanca Aldaba Preludia, Vencido el Fuego de la Especie, Manuscrito de la Niña Ausente and Neumas. She frequently writes for cultural magazines such as Encuentro and her work has appeared in many anthologies. Gil studied at New York University and Fordham University and teaches at Baruch College, CUNY and the Tenafly Adult School of New Jersey. She was co-director of the litterary magazines Lyra and Románica. In 1994, she was guest editor of Brújula, the magazine of the New York Institute of Latin American Writers. As a journalist, she has worked for The Jersey Journal, Hearst International Publications and Editors Press Service. Her work has been recognized by the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, among others. (Cintas for literature, 1979-80. 1991-92)

Martin GURRI: (Cintas for literature, 1980-81)

Oscar HIJUELOS (b.1951, New York City): The first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Hijuelos is the author of the novels Our House in the Last World, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, Empress of the Splendid Season, Mr. Ives’ Christmas and A Simple Habana Melody. He received a master’s degree from City College of New York and is the winner of a Breadloaf Writers Conference scholarship as well as grants from the Creative Artists Programs Service, the Ingram Merrill Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. His Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, was made into a film starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas. (Cintas for literature, 1977-78)

Daniel IGLESIAS-KENNEDY (b. 1950, Havana): La ranura del horizonte en llamas, Iglesias-Kennedy’s first novel, was smuggled out of Cuba and went on to become a finalist for the Sésamo award. Since leaving Cuba for Spain in 1985, he has written three other novels, El Gran Incendio, La Hija del Cazador and Esta tarde se pone el sol.  In 1985, he won the Cuentos Puerta de Oro award. Iglesias-Kennedy, who has a doctorate in English philology, is also a translator and scriptwriter, and has been a consultant for documentaries in Canada and England.  He teaches at his own Instituto de Idiomas in Talavera de la Reina, Spain. (Cintas for literature, 1990-91)

Maya ISLAS (b. 1947, Cabaiguán): The co-founder of the literary magazine Palabras y Papel, published in New York City, Islas has published a number of books, including Sola... Desnuda... Sin nombre, Sombras-Papel, La Mujer Completa, Altazora Acompañando a Vicente and Merla. She was recognized with a Carabela de Plata poetry award for Palabras del ave and with the first poetry award given by the Institute of Latin American Writers in New York. She was twice a finalist for the Letras de Oro from the University of Miami and her poetry has appeared in several anthologies including Poetas Cubanos en Nueva York, Daughters of the Fifth Sun, The Arc of Love and Floricanto Si! Latina Poetry. Islas was writer in residence at Altos de Chavon in the Dominican Republic. (Cintas for literature, 1990-91)

Iraida ITURRALDE (b. Havana): An educator and translator as well as a poet, Iturralde was editor of the literary magazines Románica and Lyra and president of the Cuban Cultural Center of New York. Among her poetry collections are Hubo la Viola, El Libro de Josafat, Tropel de Espejos, Discurso de las Infantas and La Isla Rota. Her poetry has been published in journals in America and Europe and has appeared in various anthologies, including Fiesta del Poeta, Poetas Cubanos en Nueva York and Los Atrevidos: Cuban American Writers. She has received awards from the Ford Foundation and the Mid-Atlantic States Arts Consortium. Iturralde studied political science at New York University and Columbia. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

José KOZER (b. 1940, Havana) A prolific poet, Kozer has published more than 30 books of poetry, including Padres y otras profesiones, Y así tomaron posesión en las ciudades, Bajo este cien, El carillón de los muertos, Trazas del Lirondo, Et Mutabile and Una Huella Destartalada. His work has been translated into several languages. Kozer is also an essayist and translator, and taught Spanish and Latin American Literature at Queens College (CUNY) for 32 years. (Cintas for literature 1974-75).

Pablo LA ROSA: A professor of Spanish literature at Baker University in Kansas, La Rosa writes stories about identity and memory with a strong social content. He describes his short story collection, Forbidden Fruit and Other Stories, as a summation of his life as a writer. He was a finalist in the Letras de Oro competition at the University of Miami and received an honorable mention in the Kansas Quarterly Fiction Awards. La Rosa is also a poet, and won honorable mention in the Seaton Poetry Awards. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83).

Felipe LÁZARO ÁLVAREZ (b. 1948, Güines): A poet and critic, Lázaro Álvarez founded Testimonio magazine in 1968 and was a founding member of Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana. He has directed Editorial Betania since 1987 and was editor in chief of the newspaper La Prensa del Caribe, edited by the Caribbean Studies Center in Madrid. Among his books are the poetry collections Despedida del asombro, Las aguas and Conversación con Gastón Baquero and Gastón Baquero: La invención de lo cotidiano. Lázaro Álvarez studied at the Universidad Complutense. (Cintas for literature, 1987-88)

Cesar Eugenio LEANTE (b. 1928, Matanzas): After beginning his career as a journalist, radio and television writer, Leante became cultural attaché to the Cuban embassy in Paris. He has written the novels Padres e Hijos, Muelle de Caballería and Los Guerrilleros Negros (published in Spain as Capitán de Cimarrones) as well as books on Fidel Castro, Ernest Hemingway and Gabriel García Márquez and two volumes of memoirs, Volviendo la Mirada and Revive. He moved to Madrid in 1981. (Cintas for literature, 1988-89)

Pablo LE RIVEREND (b. 1907, Montevideo, Uruguay-d. 1991, Newark): A writer and critic, Le Riverend was the author of several books of poetry, including De un Doble, Por Más Señas, Hijo de Cuba Soy, Ir tolerando el latigo del tiempo and Espuma para los Días. He also compiled and wrote Diccionario Biográfico de poetas cubanos en el exilio. His work is in the anthologies Poesía en Éxodo, Bibliografía crítica de la poesía cubana and Narradores cubanos de hoy. Le Riverend taught Spanish at Heidelberg College in Ohio between 1965 and 1972. He studied at the University of Havana. (Cintas for art, 1987-88)

Robert. F. LIMA, Jr. (b.1935, Havana): A literary critic, biographer, editor, poet and translator, Lima is professor emeritus of Spanish and Comparative Literature at the Pennsylvania State University. He is a fellow emeritus of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities and a corresponding member of Spain’s Real Academia de la Lengua. Among his 20 books are The Theatre of García Lorca, Valle Inclán: The Theatre of His Llife (which was translated into Spanish) and Dark Prisms: Occultism in Hispanic Drama.  More than 300 of his poems have been published in journals in the United States and abroad; they have also been collected in six books, including Poems of Exile and Alienation, Fathoms, Mayaland and Tracking the Minotaur. Lima has a Ph.D. in romance languages and literature from New York University. He was a senior Fulbright-Hays fellow in Peru, where he was poet-in-residence at the Universidad de San Marcos. (Cintas for literature, 1971-72)

Ismael LORENZO (b. 1945): One of the editors of the 1980s New York based magazine Unveiling Cuba, Lorenzo is the author of the novels La Hostería del Tesoro, Alicia en las mil y una camas, La Ciudad Maravillosa and Matías Pérez entre los locos. He received a silver medal from L’Academie des Arts, Science et Lettres in Paris in 1985. (Cintas for literature, 1985-86)

Gustav MAGRINAT (b. 1947, Havana): A graduate of Harvard University with a magna cum laude in English literature, Magrinat was a translator, writer and contributing editor of the Wilson Quarterly until 1983, when he enrolled at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill to pursue a degree in medicine. He now practices medicine in Greensboro, North Carolina, and looks forward to writing again once he retires. (Cintas for literature, 1979-80)

Manuel MARTÍN (b.1934, Artemisa-d. 2000, New York): A writer, actor and theater director, Martín was one of the first Cuban playwrights to bring Cuban exile issues to the English-language stage, with plays such as Union City Thanksgiving, Swallows, Rasputin, Fight, and the musical Carmencita. He moved to New York in the 1950s and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. With Cintas winner Magaly Alabau, he founded the Duo Theater in 1969, where he conducted workshops. Among the many plays he directed are Botánica, by Dolores Prida, and Julia de Burgos, by Carmen Rivera. In the 1970s, he taught theater to prisoners at Sing-Sing. Martín won two Fullbright fellowships. (Cintas 1985-86)

Yolanda MARTÍN: (Cintas for literature, 1981-82)

Pablo MEDINA (b. Havana): A poet, novelist and educator, Medina has collaborated with musicians to explore the ways music and poetry can enrich each other.  He has published four poetry collections, Pork Rind and Cuban Songs, Arching into the Afterlife, The Floating Island and Puntos de Apoyo; a memoir titled Exiled Memories: A Cuban Childhood; and two novels, The Marks of Birth and The Return of Felix Nogara. With Carolina Hospital, he wrote Everyone Will Have to Listen/Todos me van a tener que oir, a collection of translations from the Spanish of pieces by Cuban dissident Tania Díaz Castro. He has been the recipient of grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Program, the New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Arts Councils and the United States Information Agency. Medina serves on the faculty of the Warren Wilson College’s MFA Program for Writers in Asheville, North Carolina, and on the board of directors of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) and the Cuban Cultural Center of New York. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Georgetown University. (Cintas for literature, 1979-80)

Carlos Alberto MONTANER (b. 1943, Havana): A publisher, writer and political activist, Montaner has written extensively on Cuban and Latin American issues. He is the director of Firma Press, an agency that distributes opinion pieces to Latin American and European newspapers, and of Editorial Playor, a book publishing house. Among his works are Raíces torcidas de América Latina; Viaje al corazón de Cuba, Cuba: Un siglo de doloroso aprendizaje, Cómo y por qué desapareció el comunismo, Libertad: La clave de la prosperidad and the novels Perromundo and 1898: La Trama. With Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza and Álvaro Vargas Llosa, he wrote Manual del perfecto idiota latinoamericano and Fabricantes de Miseria. Montaner has lectured widely in universities in Latin America and the United States. He is the leader of the political organization Union Liberal Cubana, affiliated with the Liberal International, of which he is a vice president. (Cintas for literature, 1975-76)

Alicia “Achy” OBEJAS (b. 1956, Havana): A cultural journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Obejas is a poet, novelist and short-story writer. Her second novel, Days of Awe, was selected for the Los Angeles Times' Best Books of 2001 list. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Studs Terkel and the Peter Lisagor awards in journalism and the Lambda Literary Awards for her novels. Her work has appeared in a number of anthologies and literary magazines, and she is a frequent contributor to The Village Voice. Obejas has an MFA from Warren Wilson College. (Cintas for literature, 2000).

Martha PADILLA (b. 1928, Puerta de Golpe, Pinar del Río-d. 2004, Miami): The winner of a Carabela de Oro, the poet Martha Padilla first published her work in Cuba when she was 20 years old. That first book, Comitiva al Crepúsculo, was followed by La Alborada del Tigre,  El fin del tiempo injusto, Los Tigres del Miserere, Perfil de Frente and Remedio Santo. Padilla wrote frequently for El Nuevo Herald. She was the sister of the poet Heberto Padilla. (Cintas for literature, 1973-74).

Mario PARAJÓN: An editor and critic who contributes frequently to Diario Las Américas, Parajón is the author of Cinco escritores y su Madrid: Galdós, Azorín, Baroja, Rubén Darío y Ramón; Eugenio Florit y su Poesía;Santa Teresa de Lisieux and El Teatro de O’Neill, published by Orígenes in 1952. Parajón lives in Madrid. (Cintas for literature, 1976-77, 1977-78)

Ricardo PAU LLOSA (b. 1954, Havana): A poet, art critic and educator, Pau-Llosa’s poetry collections include Vereda Tropical, Cuba, Bread of the Imagined, Sorting Metaphors and The Mastery Impulse. As an art critic, he has specialized in 20th Century Latin American painting and sculpture, having published texts on Olga de Amaral, Rafael Soriano, Rogelio Polesello, Fernando de Szyszlo and Cuban art in exile, among others. He is a senior editor for Art International magazine and was guest curator at the Lima Biennial. (Cintas for literature, 1984-85)

Mario PENA: (Cintas for literature, 1972-73)

Francisco PÉREZ-RIVERA (b. 1938, Vertientes): A long-time cultural journalist, Pérez-Rivera became the first entertainment editor of the Associated Press’ Latin American desk in 1992. He is the author of the poetry collection Construcciones, the novel Sabanas y el Tiempo and the short story collections Cuentos cubanos and Varadero y otros cuentos. He also co-authored the book Introducción a la Literatura Española. Pérez-Rivera studied journalism in Cuba and received a master’s degree from the University of Munich. He is the winner of first prizes for short stories in contests sponsored by the Círculo de Escitores y Poetas and the Círculo de Cultura Panamericana. (Cintas for literature 1980-81)

John PIROMAN: (Cintas for literature, 1983-84)

Dolores PRIDA: A journalist, critic, poet and playwright, Prida had a major success in 2000 with the critically acclaimed off-Broadway revue Four Guys Named José and Una Mujer named María. Her other plays include Casa Propia, Beautiful Señoritas, Coser y Cantar and Botánica. She is the translator of the Julia Álvarez novels Yo! and In The Name of Salome. Prida received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Mount Holyoke College. (Cintas for literature, 1976-77)

Isel RIVERO (b. 1941, Havana): Widely published in Latin America and Spain, Rivero’s first book, a collection of prose poems titled Fantasías de la Noche, was followed by La Marcha de los Hurones, Tundra: Poema a Dos Voces, translated to French, El Banquete: Poema and Night Rained Her: Poems, with drawings by Carol Henderson.  The author gave poetry readings during the 1980s in Africa and in the early in 1990s in Central America, as she combined her vocation as a poet with her professional life as an international civil servant.  She was a contributor to Sisterhood is Global, the history-making women´s world anthology prepared in 1985 by the American author Robin Morgan, and has written for MS Magazine.  As director of the United Nations Information Centre in Madrid, she sponsored several activities related to women´s human rights and poetry.  (Cintas for literature, 1965-1966)

Eugenio RODRÍGUEZ: (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

José Mario RODRÍGUEZ (b. 1940, Güira de Melena- d. 2002, Madrid): Known professionally as José Mario, Rodríguez authored a volume of children’s plays and more than a dozen poetry collections, among them Clamor Agudo, La Torcida raíz de tanto daño and Muerte del amor por la soledad. An anthology of his poetry, El Grito y otros poemas, was published by Betania in 2000. He was one of the founders Ediciones El Puente, which published the work of young writers in Cuba during the 1960s, but was eventually shut down by the Cuban government. Rodríguez revived El Puente in 1968 after he moved to Madrid, where he also founded Ediciones La Gota de Agua. Reporting on his death, Madrid’s El País newspaper called him “one of the indispensable figures of Cuban poetry during the second half of the 20th century” (Cintas for literature, 1972-73, 1973-74)

Miguel SALES (b. 1951, Havana): A political prisoner for eight years, Sales’ poetry won an award from the New York Circle of Ibero-American Writers and Poets while he was detained in La Cabaña. His book Desencuentros, containing poems written in prison, was reissued in 1995. His work is included in the anthology Ínsulas al Pairo. Sales is also a writer of essays. He lives in Paris. (Cintas for literature, 1981-82)

Ana SIMO: An essayist and playwright, Simo wrote the essay, Lydia Cabrera: An Intimate Portrait, for the exhibition at Intar Latin American Gallery in 1984. She is also the author of Cinco Miradas sobre Cortázar and of the play Going to New England. (Cintas for literature, 1969-70, 1970-71)

Luis SUÁREZ VILLA: A professor at the University of California (Irvine), Suárez Villa teaches in the interdisciplinary School of Social Ecology, where his research interests are in the areas of technology and innovation, social and economic development, and regional analysis. He has received two Fulbright fellowships and has authored or co-authored dozens of articles and three books, including Invention and the Rise of Tecnocapitalism. Suárez Villa studied architecture before earning his doctorate at Cornell University in public policy and planning. (Cintas for literature, 1973-74)

Nivaria TEJERA (b. 1933, Cienfuegos): A resident of Paris since 1954, Tejera’s books include El Barranco, Sonámbulo del Sol and Espero la noche para soñarte, revolución. Among the awards she has received are the Premio Biblioteca Breve, from the Spanish publishing house Seix Barral. (Cintas for literature, 1978-79)

Omar TORRES (b. 1945, Victoria de las Tunas): A poet, novelist and playwright, Torres’ books include the poetry collections Conversación Primera, Tiempo Robado and De Nunca a Siempre, and the novels Al Partir, based on an anecdote from the Spanish American War, and Apenas un Bolero, which served as the basis for his English-language novel Fallen Angels Sing. Torres studied literature at Queens College, New York. (Cintas for literature, 1978-79)

José TRIANA (b. 1932, Camagüey): An actor and playwright, Triana’s La Noche de los Asesinos is considered the most translated and performed of all Cuban plays. It was originally staged in Havana and went on to win awards from Casa de las Américas and the VII Latin American Theater Festival in Havana. His other plays include El Mayor General, Medea en el Espejo, La Muerte del Neque, El Parque de la Fraternidad, Revolico en el Campo de Marte, Cinco Mujeres and Palabras Comunes, which, like La Noche de los Asesinos (under the English title, The Criminals) was staged in London by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Triana published a book of poetry, La Madera del Sueño. He is the winner of a Guggenheim fellowship and has lived in Paris since 1980. (Cintas for literature, 1985-86)

Alina TROYANO (b. 1951, Havana): Probably best known for one of her characters, Carmelita Tropicana, Troyano is a playwright, essayist and performance artist who won an Obie for sustained excellence of performance with her culture-crossing creations. Her prose and plays, which include Chicas 2000 and Milk of Amnesia, were collected in I, Carmelita Tropicana: Performing Between Cultures. (Cintas for literature, 1995-96)

Roberto VALERO (b. 1955, Matanzas – d. 1994, Washington, D.C.): The author of five books of poems, an essay on the work of Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas and the novel This Lenten Wind, Valero came to the United States on the 1980 Mariel boatlift and was one of the founders of the literary magazine Mariel, published in New York City during the 1980s. He studied at the University of Havana and later received a doctorate from Georgetown University. His poetry collections include Desde un Oscuro Ángulo and No Estaré en tu Camino. Valero won the Letras de Oro from the University of Miami for The Homeless Humor of Reinaldo Arenas. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

Armando VALLADARES: After spending 22 years in a political prison in Cuba, where he wrote the poetry collection Desde mi silla de ruedas, Valladares came to the United States in 1982. He served as a U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva under Presidents Regan and Bush. His memoir, Contra toda esperanza (Against All Hope) became an international best-seller. (Cintas for literature, 1983-84)

Jorge VALLS ARANGO: (Cintas for literature, 1986-87)

Julio VERA (b. 1952, San José de los Ramos): Vera has written television pilots, episodes and feature films for CBS, ABC and Warner Brothers and also works as an archivist for the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the West Society of American Archivists and the Association of Moving Image Archivists. He received a Sam Goldwyn Writing Award from the Goldwyn Foundation and is listed in Who’s Who Among Hispanics in America. Vera has a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie-Mellon University and a master of fine arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.  (Cintas for literature, 1975-76)

Carlos VICTORIA (b. 1950, Camagüey – d. 2007, Miami): A prize-winning writer in Cuba, Victoria left the island on the Mariel boatlift after Cuban authorities arrested him and confiscated his manuscripts. Since arriving in the United States, his work has been published in anthologies and literary magazines in Europe and Latin America as well as in this country. Among his books are Las Sombras en la Playa, El Resbaloso y otros cuentos, La Ruta del Mago (these last two also published in French) El Salón del Ciego and La Travesía Secreta, selected as the best novel of November 2001 by the publisher Phebus. His novel Puente en la Oscuridad received a Letras de Oro award and was recently published in English with the title A Bridge in DarkneSS. Victoria is an editor at El Nuevo Herald. (Cintas for literature, 1993-94)

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