Open Your Eyes and Soar: Cuban Women Writing Now

by Mary Berg (Editor), Pamela Carmell (Translation)

The ten writers included here rose to prominence in the last decade of the twentieth century. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba underwent a drastic economic contraction that brought about an explosion of feminine narrative writing, largely in a need to reinforce the self-esteem so essential in moments of crisis and uncertainty. For the first time in Cuban literature, women focused on topics long con-sidered taboo—sexuality, eroticism, domestic violence, drug addiction, pedophilia—to bring attention to the social and moral crisis brought about by the loss of Soviet support. Writers include Ana Lidia Vega Serova, Karla Suarez, Marilyn Bobes, Adelaida Fernandez de Juan, Nancy Alonso, Aida Bahr, Ena Lucia Portela, Mirta Yanez, Mylene Fernandez Pintado, and Sonia Bravo Utrera.

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

There is more than one Mary Berg. This is Mary^^Berg the translator. Please see Mary^Berg for the author of The Diary of Mary Berg: Growing up in the Warsaw Ghetto and Mary^^^Berg for the expert on Norman churches in Kent, England.

Reviews

[Stormy · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of 3 books by Cuban authors I read this month - thanks to a friend's prep for a trip to Cuba.

Enjoyed some of the short stories, and made it through some others. Was good exposure for me to another culture. All stories were translated by other than the original authors.

The bios of the authors and translators was as good or better than some of the stories.