A list of Cuban writers, including novelists, poets, and critics: Cuban authors and writers have influenced and shaped the history of the world. Throughout the years many of their contributions have caused radical shifts: from social movements to global perspectives in the Americas and beyond.

A

* Brígida Agüero (1837–1866), poet * Mirta Aguirre (1912–1980), poet, novelist, and journalist * Magaly Alabau (born 1945), poet *

Dora Alonso Dora Alonso (born Doralina de la Caridad Alonso-Perez on December 22, 1910, in Maximo Gomez, Matanzas, Cuba – March 21, 2001, in Cuba) was a Cuban journalist and writer who worked in both print and radio. She wrote novels, short stories, poetry, ...

(1910–2001), author and journalist *

Reinaldo Arenas Reinaldo Arenas (July 16, 1943 – December 7, 1990) was a Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright known as a vocal critic of Fidel Castro, the Cuban Revolution, and the Cuban government. His memoir of the Cuban dissident movement and of being a ...

(1943–1990), openly gay poet, novelist, and playwright, author of '' Before Night Falls'' ()

B

* Joaquín Badajoz (born 1972), poet and writer * Gastón Baquero (1916–1997), poet and writer *

Miguel Barnet --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disa ...

, anthropologist and testimonialist * Antonio Benítez-Rojo (1931–2005), author and critic *

Pedro Luis Boitel Pedro Luis Boitel (May 13, 1931–May 25, 1972) was a Cubans, Cuban poet and dissident who opposed the governments of both Fulgencio Batista and Fidel Castro. In 1961, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Boitel died during a hunger strike in ...

(1931–1972), poet and dissident * Mariano Brull (1891–1956), postmodern poet

C

Lydia Cabrera Lydia Cabrera (May 20, 1899, in Havana, Cuba – September 19, 1991, in Miami, Florida) was a Cuban independent ethnographer. Cabrera was a Cuban writer and literary activist. She was an authority on Santería and other Afro-Cuban religions. D ...

(1899–1991), anthropologist and poet * Guillermo Cabrera Infante (1929–2005), novelist, author of '' Tres tristes tigres'',

Cervantes Prize The Miguel de Cervantes Prize ( es, Premio de Literatura en Lengua Castellana Miguel de Cervantes) is awarded annually to honour the lifetime achievement of an outstanding writer in the Spanish language. History The prize was established in 1975 ...

winner *

Onelio Jorge Cardoso Onelio Jorge Cardoso (May 14, 1914 in Calabazar de Sagua, Cuba – May 29, 1986 in Havana, Cuba) was a Cuban editor, screenwriter, short fiction writer and party functionary. Biography and career Cardoso was born in Calabazar de Sagua, nearby ...

(1914–1986), screenwriter and short fiction writer *

Alejo Carpentier Alejo Carpentier y Valmont (, ; December 26, 1904 – April 24, 1980) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of French an ...

(1904–1980), novelist, author of ''El reino de este mundo'',

winner *

Julián del Casal José Julián Herculano del Casal y de la Lastra (November 7, 1863 – October 21, 1893) was a poet from Havana, Cuba. He started his writing career at a young age and later in life was known as an important forebearer of modernistic expression ...

, 19th-century poet * Fidel Castro (1926–2016), former President of Cuba * Daniel Chavarria, Uruguyan-born author *

Daína Chaviano Daína Chaviano () (born 19 February 1957, Havana)Profile
''Encyclopæd ...

, novelist and short-story writer * Enrique Cirules (1938–2016), novelist and essayist * Domitila García de Coronado (1847–1938), writer, journalist, editor, professor

D

* Edmundo Desnoes, novelist, author of '' Memorias del Subdesarrollo'' * Jesús Díaz (1941–2002), novelist, filmmaker, and intellectual, founder of the influential cultural magazine ''Encuentro''

E

* Darío Espina Pérez (October 25, 1920–September 6, 1996), writer, founder and president of La Academia Poética de Miami

F

* Samuel Feijóo (1914–1992), author *

Roberto Fernández Retamar Roberto Fernández Retamar (9 June 1930 – 20 July 2019, Havana) was a Cuban poet, essayist, literary critic and President of the Casa de las Américas. In his role as President of the organization, Fernández also served on the Council of State o ...

(1930–2019), poet, essayist, and literary critic *

Norberto Fuentes Norberto Fuentes (born March 2, 1943 Havana) is a writer and journalist. He has published ''Hemingway in Cuba'' and ''Ernest Hemingway: Rediscovered'', both available in English, as well as ''Dulces guerreros cubanos'', ''Condenados de Condado'' ...

(born 1943), author and journalist

G

Michael John Garcés Michael John Garcés (born 1967) is a Cuban-American playwright and director. He is the artistic director of Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. He has received several awards and grants, including the Alan Schneider Director Award and t ...

(born 1967), playwright and director. * Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda (1814–1873), novelist, playwright, and poet, author of ''Sab'' (1842) and ''Baltasar'' (1858) * Justo González (born 1937), author and historian * Jorge Enrique González Pacheco (born 1969), poet and cultural entrepreneur *

Nicolás Guillén Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista (10 July 1902 – 17 July 1989) was a Cuban poet, journalist, political activist, and writer. He is best remembered as the national poet of Cuba.

(1902–1989), Afro-Cuban poet *

Pedro Juan Gutiérrez Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (born 27 January 1950, in Matanzas, Cuba) is a Cuban novelist. He grew up in Pinar del Río and began to work selling ice cream and newspapers when he was eleven years old. He was a soldier, swimming and kayak instructor, ...

(born 1950) "dirty realist" novelist, poet, and painter

H

José María Heredia y Heredia José María Heredia y Heredia, also known as José María Heredia y Campuzano (December 31, 1803 – May 7, 1839) was a Cuban-born poet considered by many to be the first romantic poet of the Americas and the initiator of Latin American romantic ...

(1803–1839), poet * Georgina Herrera (1936–2021), poet

L

* Carilda Oliver Labra (1922–2018), poet *

José Lezama Lima José María Andrés Fernando Lezama Lima (December 19, 1910 – August 9, 1976) was a Cuban writer, poet and essayist. He is considered one of the most influential figures in Cuban and Latin American literature. His novel ''Paradiso'' is one of ...

(1910–1976), novelist and poet, author of ''Paradiso'' * Eduardo del Llano (born 1962)

M

* Jorge Mañach (1898–1961), writer *

Juan Francisco Manzano Juan Francisco Manzano (1797–1854) was born a house slave in the Matanzas Province of Cuba during the colonial period. Manzano's father died before he was 15 and his only remaining family was his mother and two brothers. Manzano worked as a pag ...

(1797–1854), author and poet *

Dulce María Loynaz Dulce María Loynaz Muñoz (Havana, Cuba; 10 December 1902 – 27 April 1997) was a Cuban poet, and is considered one of the principal figures of Cuban literature. She was awarded the Miguel de Cervantes Prize in 1992. She earned her Doctorate ...

(1902–1997), poet,

winner *

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...

(1853–1895), poet, journalist, critic, translator, and patriot * Calixto Martínez, journalist and political prisoner *

Rubén Martínez Villena Rubén Martínez Villena (December 20, 1899 – January 16, 1934) was a Cuban people, Cuban writer and Cuban Revolution, revolutionary leader. He was born in Alquízar, in the La Habana province. Biography After graduating from the University o ...

, writer * Domingo del Monte (1804–1853), author and literary critic *

Nancy Morejón Nancy Morejón (born 1944 in Havana) is a Cuban poet, critic, and essayist. She was a recipient of the Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath Award. She is "the best known and most widely translated woman poet of post-revolutionary Cuba". Biograp ...

(born 1944), Afro-Cuban poet * Dolan Mor (born 1968) * Manuel Maria Mustelier (1878–1941), writer and teacher

O

* Fernando Ortiz (1881–1969), author and essayist *

Lisandro Otero Lisandro Otero González (June 4, 1932 – January 3, 2008) was a Cuban novelist and journalist. Background Born in Havana, Cuba, Otero won Cuba's National Prize in Literature in 2002 and was the director of Cuban Academy of Language from October ...

(1932–2008), novelist and journalist

P

* Heberto Padilla (1932–2000), poet *

Leonardo Padura Fuentes Leonardo de la Caridad Padura Fuentes (born October 10, 1955) is a Cuban novelist and journalist. , he is one of Cuba's best-known writers internationally. In his native Spanish, as well as in English and some other languages, he is often refe ...

(born 1955), novelist and journalist *

Ricardo Pau-Llosa Ricardo Pau-Llosa (born May 17, 1954 in Havana, Cuba, lived in the United States since December 1960) is a Cuban- American poet, art critic of Latin American art in the US and Europe, art collector, and author of short fiction. Early life and ...

(born 1954), poet * Regino Pedroso (1896–1983), poet *

Gustavo Pérez Firmat Gustavo Pérez Firmat was born in 1949, Havana, Cuba, and raised in Miami, Florida. He attended Miami-Dade Community College, the University of Miami, and the University of Michigan, where he earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. He taught a ...

(born 1949), poet, memoirist, literary critic *

Virgilio Piñera Virgilio Piñera Llera ( Cárdenas, Cuba, August 4, 1912 – Havana, October 18, 1979) was a Cuban author, playwright, poet, short story writer, essayist and translator. His most notorious works are the poem ''La isla en peso'' (1943), the collec ...

(1912–1979), author, playwright, poet, short-story writer and essayist * Carlos Pintado (born 1974), poet

R

* Félix Ramos y Duarte (1848–1924), educator, textbook writer and lexicographer * José Ignacio Rivero (1920–2011), exile journalist *

Raúl Rivero Raúl Ramón Rivero Castañeda (23 November 1945 – 6 November 2021) was a Cuban poet, journalist, and dissident. Early life and career Rivero was born on 23 November 1945 in Morón, Camagüey, in central Cuba. In his youth, he was an ard ...

(1945–2021), dissident poet and journalist * Antonio Rodríguez Salvador (born 1960), poet, fiction writer, dramatist and essayist Isel Rivero (born in 1941 in Havana, Cuba.) poet in exile 1963,

S

* Pedro Pérez Sarduy (born 1943), poet, novelist and journalist * Severo Sarduy (1937–1993), neobaroque poet * Ana María Simo, playwright, essayist and lesbian activist

U

* Úrsula Céspedes (1832–1874), poet

V

* Zoé Valdés (born 1959), novelist * Enrique José Varona (1848–1933), author and journalist * Cirilo Villaverde, novelist, author of ''

Cecilia Valdés ''Cecilia Valdés'' is both a novel by the Cuban writer Cirilo Villaverde (1812–1894), and a zarzuela based on the novel. It is a work of importance for its quality, and its revelation of the interaction of classes and races in Havana, C ...

'' (1882) * Cintio Vitier (1921–2009), poet, essayist and novelist

Z

* Juan Clemente Zenea (1832–1871), author and poet * Héctor Zumbado, writer, journalist, humorist, and critic

References

{{Cuba topics , DP * Writers

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

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