Reinaldo Arenas
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Reinaldo Arenas (July 16, 1943 – December 7, 1990) was a Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright who despite his early sympathy for the 1959 revolution, grew critical of and then rebellious against the Fidel Castro regime.
Life
Arenas was born in Holguín, Province of Oriente, Cuba. In 1962, he moved to Havana to enroll in the School of Planification and, later, in the Faculty of Letters at the Universidad de La Habana, where he studied philosophy and literature without completing a degree. The following year, he began working at the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí. [link] While there, his talent was noticed and he was awarded prizes at Cirilo Villaverde National Competition held by UNEAC (National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists). (Soto 1998) Interestingly, his Hallucinations was awarded “first Honorable Mention” in 1966 although, as the judges could find no better entry, no First Prize was awarded that year. (Colchie 2001)His writings and openly gay lifestyle were, by 1967, bringing him into conflict with the Communist government. He left the Biblioteca Nacional and became an editor for the Cuban Book Institute until 1968. From 1968 to 1974 he was a journalist and editor for the literary magazine La Gaceta de Cuba. In 1973, he was sent to prison after being charged and convicted of 'ideological deviation' and for publishing abroad without official consent. He escaped from prison and tried to leave Cuba by launching himself from the shore on a tyre inner tube. The attempt failed and he was re-arrested near Lenin Park and imprisoned at the notorious El Morro Castle alongside murderers and rapists. He survived by helping the inmates to write letters to wives and lovers. He was able to collect enough paper this way to continue his writing. However, his attempts to smuggle his work out of prison were discovered and he was severely punished. Threatened with death he was forced to renounce his work and was released in 1976. [link] In 1980, as part of the Port of Mariel exodus, he fled to the United States. [link]
Writings
Despite his short life and the hardships imposed during his imprisonment, Arenas produced a significant body of work. The Pentagonia a set of five novels that comprise a “secret history” of post revolutionary Cuba include the poetical Farewell to the Sea, Palace of the White Skunks and the Rabelaisian Color of Summer. In these novels Arenas’ style ranges from a stark realist narrative to absurd satiric humor to trace his own life story in what to him is the absurd world of Castro’s Cuba. In each of the novels, Arenas, himself is a major character, going by a number of pseudonyms. His autobiography, Before Night Falls was on the New York Times list of the ten best books of the year in 1993. In 2000 this work was made into a film, directed by Julian Schnabel, in which Arenas was played by Javier Bardem.Death
In 1987, Arenas was diagnosed with AIDS. After battling the illness, Arenas took an overdose of drugs and alcohol in 1990 in New York. In a suicide letter written for publication, Arenas wrote:Due to my delicate state of health and to the terrible depression it causes me not to be able to continue writing and struggling for the freedom of Cuba, I am ending my life. . . . I want to encourage the Cuban people out of the country as well as on the Island to continue fighting for freedom. . . . Cuba will be free. I already am. [link]
Notable Works
- El mundo aluciante (1966) English translation Hallucinations (1987) ISBN 01420001901
- Cantando en el pozo (1982) (originally published as Celestino antes del alba (1967)) English translation Singing from the Well (1987) ISBN 014009444X
- El palacio de las blanquisimas mofetas (1982) English translation The Palace of the White Skunks (1990) ISBN 0140097929
- Otra vez el mar (1982) English translation Farewell to the Sea (1987) ISBN 0140066365
- El color del verano (1982) English translation The Color of Summer (1990) ISBN 0140157190
- El Asalto (1990) English translation The Assault (1992) ISBN 0140157182
- El portero (1987) English translation The Doorman (1991) ISBN 080213405X
- Antes que anocheza (1992) English translation Before Night Falls (1993) ISBN 0140157654
- Mona and Other Tales (2001) ISBN 0375727302 This is an English translation of a collection of short stories originally published in Spanish in Spain between 1995 and 2001
- Con los ojos cerrados (1972),
- La vieja Rosa (1980), English Translation Old Rosa (1995) ISBN 0802134068
- El central (1981), ISBN 0380869349
- Termina el desfile (1981).
- Arturo, la estrella más brillante (1984),
- Cinco obras de teatro bajo el título Persecución (1986).
- Necesidad de libertad (1986)
- La Loma del Angel (1987), English Translation Graveyard of the Angels (1987) ISBN 0380750759
- Voluntad de vivir manifestándose (1989) ISBN 9879396553
- Viaje a La Habana (1990). ISBN 0897295447
- Final de un cuento (El Fantasma de la glorieta) (1991) ISBN 8486842387
- Adiós a mamá (1996) ISBN 0897297911
Critical Bibliography
- Cuba's political and sexual outlaw: Reinaldo Arenas / Ocasio, Rafael., 2003
- Reinaldo Arenas (Twayne World Authors Series) / Soto, Francisco., 1998
- Reinaldo Arenas: the Pentagonía / Soto, Francisco., 1994
References
[link]. There is a biography at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247196/board/thread/15245408 (you have to be logged in to see it).Thomas Colchie, Introduction ‘’Hallucinations’’ (2001) ISBN 0142000191
Francisco Soto and Gary Soto, (1998), "Reinaldo Arenas: The Pentagonía", Macmillan Library Reference, 185 pages, ISBN 0805745548 (hardcover)
See also
External links
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