Contemporary Cuban Lit: A Reading List

Recently, Tillman Miller went to the 25th Havana International Book Fair to investigate Cuba’s moment in contemporary literature. What followed was an oral history of Cuban literature, one which can be further supplemented by Miller’s list of suggested contemporary Cuban authors. From rising talents Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo and Osdany Morales to newly published anthologies, here are some recommendations to get your fill on stories told and untold. 

A Planet for Rent by Yoss, trans. David Frye (Restless Books)

Abandoned Havana by Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo (Restless Books)

Archivo by Jorge Enrique Lage (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Spanish Edition)

Bestia by Elaine Vilar Madruga (Lugar Comun Editorial, Spanish Edition)

Dirty Havana by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, trans. Natasha Wimmer (Ecco Press)

Everyone Leaves by Wendy Guerra, trans. Achy Obejas (AmazonCrossing)

The Island of Eternal Love by Daína Chaviano (Riverhead)

La noria by Ahmel Echevarria (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Spanish Version)

The Man Who Loved Dogs by Leonardo Padura, trans. Anna Kushner (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Paperback Writer by Raúl Flores (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Spanish Edition)

Papyrus by Osdany Morales (Sudaquia Editores, Spanish Edition)

Four anthologies offering a compelling introduction to contemporary Cuban literature include:

Cuba in Splinters: Eleven Stories From the New Cuba, ed. Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, trans. Hillary Gulley (OR Books)

Generation Zero: An Anthology of New Cuban Fiction, ed. Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo and Silvia Duarte Amado (Sampsonia Way)

Havana Noir, ed. Achy Obejas (Akashic Books)

Your Impossible Voice: Issue 10, ed. Stephen Beachy (Your Impossible Voice)

Happy reading!