Havana and Other Missing Fathers

Havana and Other Missing Fathers
Author: Mia Leonin
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2009-09-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780816528158

Mia Leonin spent the first sixteen years of her life believing her father was dead. All she knew of the man came through stories told by her mother. At times he had been a surgeon, at others a psychiatrist. In truth, he had been a fantasy. Shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Leonin learned from her mother that her father, a Cuban exile, was very much alive and living in Florida. Her attempts to contact him, however, were thwarted until four years later, when she left home in search of her roots. She meets her father, but trying to discover the truth behind him proves to be a more daunting task. Her journey takes her to Miami, Colombia, and Cuba, and her search for cultural identity leads her to create memories, friendships, and romances. She finds moments of connection and redemption, ending up in Havana not as a cultural tourist but as an illegitimate daughter of Cuba looking for validation. What she discovers is an island bereft of fathers and brimming with paternalism. As she becomes entangled with two different men, she descends further into the Havana of poverty, humiliation, and despair, as well as the ever-inventive city that is as passionate as it is contradictory. Insightful, imaginative, and often poetic, Havana and Other Missing Fathers is Mia Leonin’s recollection of this journey and her longing to learn more about her origins. In the end, she must learn to accept the answers she discovers as well as the questions that remain.

Island in the Light/Isla en la luz

Island in the Light/Isla en la luz
Author: Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation
Publisher: Tra Publishing
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2019-07-02
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1732297851

Island in the Light / Isla en la luz is a fascinating and insightful compilation that pairs contemporary Cuban visual art and literature by having 30 prominent writers respond to the works of 35 renowned artists. Contemporary Cuban art, literature, and music come together in Island in the Light / Isla en la luz. This bilingual compilation of the work of 35 artists and 30 writers began by selecting artwork by renowned artists and asking prominent writers to create original stories, poems, or essays in response. The result is a thoroughly original and captivating selection of visual arts and literature in dialogue that conveys a sense of the essence and energy of Cuban arts today. Artists represented include Tania Bruguera, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Yoan Capote, Teresita Fernández, Roberto Fabelo, Carlos Garaicoa, and Enrique Martinez Celaya. Among the writers are Wendy Guerra, José Kozer, Jorge Enrique Lage, Legna Rodríguez Iglesias, Achy Obejas, Leonardo Padura, and Reina María Rodríguez. The works are drawn from the Jorge M. Pérez Art Collection; the majority have been gifted to the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), while the others are promised gifts to PAMM. The volume also includes music: Pavel Urkiza composed original scores inspired by several of the selections that readers link to through QR codes. In addition to the short stories, poems, and essays inspired by the artwork, the volume includes commentary and critical essays by Jorge M. Pérez, Carlos Garaicoa, and Wendy Guerra and Leonardo Padura. Proceeds benefit The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation, which will redirect the funds to arts organizations.

Home in Florida

Home in Florida
Author: Anjanette Delgado
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2021-11-16
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 1683403037

Independent Publisher Book Awards, Silver Medal for Anthology National Indie Excellence Awards, Finalist in the Anthology Category International Latino Book Awards, Gold Medal for Best Fiction (Multi-Author) International Latino Book Awards, Honorable Mention, Best Nonfiction (Multi-Author) A powerful collection of contemporary voices Showcasing a variety of voices shaped in and by a place that has been for them a crossroads and a land of contradictions, Home in Florida presents a selection of the best literature of displacement and uprootedness by some of the most talented contemporary Latinx writers who have called Florida home. Featuring fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by Richard Blanco, Jaquira Díaz, Patricia Engel, Jennine Capó Crucet, Reinaldo Arenas, Judith Ortiz Cofer, and many others, this collection of renowned and award-winning contributors includes several who are celebrated in their countries of origin but have not yet been discovered by readers in the United States. The writers in this volume—first- , second- , and third-generation immigrants to Florida from Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Perú, Argentina, Chile, and other countries—reflect the diversity of Latinx experiences across the state. Editor Anjanette Delgado characterizes the work in this collection as literature of uprootedness, literatura del desarraigo, a Spanish literary tradition and a term used by Reinaldo Arenas. With the heart-changing, here-and-there perspective of attempting life in environments not their own, these writers portray many different responses to displacement, each occupying their own unique place on what Delgado calls a spectrum of belonging. Together, these writers explore what exactly makes Florida home for those struggling between memory and presence. In these works, as it is for many people seeking to make a new life in the United States, Florida is the place where the uprooted stop to catch their breath long enough to wonder, “What if I stayed? What if here could one day be my home?” Contributors: Daniel Reschinga | Ana Menéndez | Frances Negrón Muntaner | Hernán Vera Álvarez | Liz Balmaseda | Ariel Francisco | Andreina Fernandez | Amina Lolita Gautier PhD | Jennine Capó-Crucet | Dainerys Machado Vento | Carlos Harrison | Legna Rodríguez Iglesias | Judith Ortiz Cofer | Chantel Acevedo | Guillermo Rosales | Achy Obejas | Alex Segura | Patricia Engel | Anjanette Delgado | Mia Leonin | Carlos Pintado | Nilsa Ada Rivera | Natalie Scenters-Zapico | Pedro Medina León | Caridad Moro-Gronlier | Aracelis González Asendorf | Michael García-Juelle | Jaquira Díaz | José Ignacio Chascas-Valenzuela | Raúl Dopico | Javier Lentino | Yaddyra Peralta

Grabbed

Grabbed
Author: Richard Blanco
Publisher: Beacon Press
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2020-10-06
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0807071854

A gender-inclusive anthology of poetry and prose that addresses the physical and psychological act of being “grabbed,” or in any way assaulted. The #MeToo movement, the infamous Access Hollywood tape, and the depraved and hypocritical actions of celebrities, politicians, CEOs, and other powerful people have caused people all over the nation to speak out in outrage, to express allegiance for the victims of these assaults, and to raise their voices against a culture that has allowed this behavior to continue for too long. The editors asked writers and poets to add to the conversation about what being “grabbed” means to them in their own experience or in whatever way the word “grabbed” inspired them. What they received are often searing, heart-rending works, ranging in topic from sexual misconduct to racial injustice, from an unwanted caress to rape, expressed in powerful, beautifully crafted prose and poetry. The writers represented here, some very well known, such as Rita Dove, Jericho Brown, Eileen Miles, Ana Menendez and Sapphire, as well as some newer voices not yet fully discovered, have mined their collective experiences to reveal their most vulnerable moments, and in some cases, to narrate moments that they have had previously been unwilling or unable to speak of. What results is a collection of emotional, hard-hitting pieces that speak to the aftermath of violation—whether mental, emotional, or physical.

Camino del Sol

Camino del Sol
Author: Rigoberto González
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2022-09-20
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0816550786

Since 1994, the Camino del Sol series has been one of the premier vehicles for Latina/o literary voices. Launched under the auspices of Chicana/o luminary Ray Gonzalez, it quickly established itself in both the Latina/o community and the publishing world as it garnered awards for its outstanding writing. Featuring both established writers and first-time authors, Camino del Sol has published poetry and prose that convey something about the Latina/o experience—works that tap into universal truths through a distinct cultural lens. This volume celebrates fifteen years of books by bringing together some of the series’ best work, such as poetry from Francisco X. Alarcón, fiction from Christine Granados, and nonfiction from Luis Alberto Urrea. These voices echo the entire spectrum of Latina/o writing, from Chicana/o to Puerto Rican to Brazilian-American, and take in themes ranging from migration to gender. Awards bestowed upon Camino del Sol titles include the PEN/Beyond Margins Award to Richard Blanco’s Directions to the Beach of the Dead; Before Columbus Foundation American Book Awards to Diana García’s When Living Was a Labor Camp and Luis Alberto Urrea’s Nobody’s Son; International Latino Book Awards to Pat Mora’s Adobe Odes and Kathleen Alcalá’s The Desert Remembers My Name; the Premio Aztlán literary prize to Sergio Troncoso’s The Last Tortilla; and the PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles National Literary Award to Kathleen de Azevedo’s Samba Dreamers. All of these works are represented in this outstanding collection. In a short span of time, Camino del Sol has cultivated an admirable and sizeable list of distinguished contemporary authors—and even garnered the first National Book Critics Circle Award for a Chicana/o for Juan Felipe Herrera’s Half of the World in Light. Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of Latina and Latino Writing is a benchmark for the series and a wonderful introduction to the world of Latina/o literature.

Waiting For Snow In Havana

Waiting For Snow In Havana
Author: Carlos Eire
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 579
Release: 2012-12-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 147110835X

A childhood in a privileged household in 1950s Havana was joyous and cruel, like any other-but with certain differences. The neighbour's monkey was liable to escape and run across your roof. Surfing was conducted by driving cars across the breakwater. Lizards and firecrackers made frequent contact. Carlos Eire's childhood was a little different from most. His father was convinced he had been Louis XVI in a past life. At school, classmates with fathers in the Batista government were attended by chauffeurs and bodyguards. At a home crammed with artifacts and paintings, portraits of Jesus spoke to him in dreams and nightmares. Then, in January 1959, the world changes: Batista is suddenly gone, a cigar-smoking guerrilla has taken his place, and Christmas is cancelled. The echo of firing squads is everywhere. And, one by one, the author's schoolmates begin to disappear-spirited away to the United States. Carlos will end up there himself, without his parents, never to see his father again. Narrated with the urgency of a confession, WAITING FOR SNOW IN HAVANA is both an ode to a paradise lost and an exorcism. More than that, it captures the terrible beauty of those times in our lives when we are certain we have died-and then are somehow, miraculously, reborn.

The Missing Piece of the Puzzle

The Missing Piece of the Puzzle
Author: Bruce Weiss
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2012-10-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781477276792

In The Missing Piece of the Puzzle, two men are running out of time to have their dreams come true. Max Duncan hopes to become an accomplished author but he cannot find a good story to write. Sala Walker has a sea trunk filled with historical materials that have never been made public, but he cannot write. Neither man can achieve success on his own until a curious letter brings them together. Each man will learn that he holds the key to ther other's success. The Missing Piece of the Puzzle is a story of international intrigue, a terrifying skyjacking incident, travel to a forbidden place, a hurricane with disasterous effects, a debilitating disease that affects one of the men, and even a frightening and unexpected encounter with one of the men's wives. This is a fast paced compelling novel that brings a questionable incident in American history, the explosion and the sinking of the battleship, The Maine in 1898, into the twenty-first century.

Dreaming in Cuban

Dreaming in Cuban
Author: Cristina García
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2011-06-08
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307798003

“Impressive . . . [Cristina García’s] story is about three generations of Cuban women and their separate responses to the revolution. Her special feat is to tell it in a style as warm and gentle as the ‘sustaining aromas of vanilla and almond,’ as rhythmic as the music of Beny Moré.”—Time Cristina García’s acclaimed book is the haunting, bittersweet story of a family experiencing a country’s revolution and the revelations that follow. The lives of Celia del Pino and her husband, daughters, and grandchildren mirror the magical realism of Cuba itself, a landscape of beauty and poverty, idealism and corruption. Dreaming in Cuban is “a work that possesses both the intimacy of a Chekov story and the hallucinatory magic of a novel by Gabriel García Márquez” (The New York Times). In celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the novel’s original publication, this edition features a new introduction by the author. Praise for Dreaming in Cuban “Remarkable . . . an intricate weaving of dramatic events with the supernatural and the cosmic . . . evocative and lush.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Captures the pain, the distance, the frustrations and the dreams of these family dramas with a vivid, poetic prose.”—The Washington Post “Brilliant . . . With tremendous skill, passion and humor, García just may have written the definitive story of Cuban exiles and some of those they left behind.”—The Denver Post