Interview: Abe Kogan Author of Split Seconds Havana
“Split Seconds Havana features the people, the architecture and, of course, the iconic ‘50s era cars of Cuba’s capital city. The presentation is candid, direct and thought-provoking but never unkind or judgmental. The images tell the story. Kogan is an International Independent Publishers Gold Award winner for his photography.” —splitsecondsphotos.com Shelf Unbound: You took these […]
Feature: Classic Cuban Literature: Dreaming in Cuban
Dreaming in Cuban: 25th Anniversary Editionby Cristina Garcia Ballantine Booksrandomhousebooks.com Introduction to the 25th Anniversary Edition A quarter century? How is that possible? I remember very well finishing Dreaming in Cuban. It was the fall of 1990 and I was living in a seaside cottage on the windward side of Oahu. My daughter, who would be named […]
Feature: Classic Cuban Literature: Three Trapped Tigers
Three Trapped Tigersby G. Cabrera Infantetranslated by Suzanne Jill Levine Dalkey Archive Pressdalkeyarchive.com “Cabrera Infante’s masterpiece, Three Trapped Tigers is one of the most playful books to reach the U.S. from Cuba. Filled with puns, wordplay, lists upon lists, and Sternean typography—such as the section entitled “Some Revelations,” which consists of several blank pages—this novel […]
Feature: Classic Cuban Literature: The Lost Steps
The Lost Stepsby Alejo Carpentiertranslated by Harriet de Onis University of Minnesota Pressupress.umn.edu The following is an excerpt from the book’s introduction by Timothy Brennan, Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota. Translated into twenty languages, and published in more than fourteen Spanish editions, The Lost Steps (Los pasos perdidas, […]
Feature: Classic Cuban Literature: Cecilia Valdes
Cecilia Valdes or El Angel Hillby Cirilo Villaverdetranslated from the Spanish by Helen Lane “Cecilia Valdés is arguably the most important novel of 19th century Cuba. Originally published in New York City in 1882, Cirilo Villaverde’s novel has fascinated readers inside and outside Cuba since the late 19th century. In this new English translation, a […]
Interview: Achy Obejas Author of Days of Awe
Ballantine Books ballantinebooks.com Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. This interview was first aired in November 2001, in a somewhat different form, on the program “Conversations with Ilan Stavans,” on PBS-WGBH. ILAN STAVANS: Days of Awe, it strikes me, is about the tension between public and […]
Feature: Contemporary Cuban Fiction
Nowhere Man by Miguel Mejides “Miguel Mejides is a Cuban novelist and storyteller who has been recognized as a major voice in Cuban literature.” —Brown University Akashic Books There are people who need to go against the grain but I’m not going against anything. Perhaps everything stems from the great handicap which life has given […]
Excerpt: Jake & the Dragons of Asheville by Brian Kacica
About the Book: http://www.dragonsofasheville.com In a small, sleepy town in North Carolina, thirteen-year-old Jake Winston has discovered he carries a unique genetic trait; one that a covert government agency will stop at nothing to obtain. After the tragic death of his father, a local firefighting hero, Jake’s absent grandfather returns and sends him on a […]
Excerpt: Blind Spot by Laura Ellen
About the Book: http://www.lauraellenbooks.com There’s none so blind as they that won’t see. Seventeen-year-old Tricia Farni’s body floated to the surface of Alaska’s Birch River six months after the night she disappeared. The night Roz Hart had a fight with her. The night Roz can’t remember. Roz, who struggles with macular degeneration, is used to […]