“West Indians do not give up traditions easily – even traditions like Christmas trees and carols about snow that seem a little out of place on tropical islands. Adopting traditions from other places is another West Indian tradition.” Vashanti Rahaman, Author’s Note, O Christmas Tree
Day 7: 🇨🇺 Havana Year Zero
After reading two brilliant books from Charco Press last summer: The German Room by Carla Maliandi ( tr. Frances Riddle) and Holiday Heart by Margarita García Robayo (tr. Charlotte Coombe). I decided to subscribe to their 2021 bundle. Charco Press is a small indie publisher, based in Edinburgh, that brings Latin American contemporary writers to … Continue reading Day 7: 🇨🇺 Havana Year Zero
Crime Fiction Pick: Heretics by Leonardo Padura (Cuba)
In 1939, the Saint Louis sails from Hamburg into Havana’s port with hundreds of Jewish refugees seeking asylum from the Nazi regime. From the docks, nine-year-old Daniel Kaminsky watches as the passengers, including his parents, become embroiled in a fiasco of Cuban corruption. But the Kaminskys have a treasure that they hope will save them: a Rembrandt … Continue reading Crime Fiction Pick: Heretics by Leonardo Padura (Cuba)
Title Pick: Heretics by Leonardo Padura
Inspector Mario Conde is back in a sweeping novel of art theft, anti-semitism and family tragedy. From Cuba during WWII to 17th Century Amsterdam and back to Havana today. In 1939, the Saint Louis sails from Hamburg into Havana’s port with hundreds of Jewish refugees seeking asylum from the Nazi regime. From the docks, nine-year-old Daniel Kaminsky … Continue reading Title Pick: Heretics by Leonardo Padura
Super Extra Grande by Yoss
Super Extra Grande by Yoss Translated from the Spanish (Cuba) by David Frye Restless Books, 2016 ISBN 1632060566 Excerpt: In 2054, Father Salvador González formulates the Tunnel Macroeffect Theorem, and Ecuador confounds the world in sending a satellite to Mars in minutes. Soon after, a politically and racially divided humankind, unready for such a leap, … Continue reading Super Extra Grande by Yoss
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 