Excilia Saldaña (7 August 1946 – 20 July 1999) was an
Afro-Cuban
Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African a ...
juvenile literature writer, poet and academic. In 1984, she won the
National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba
The National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, UNEAC) is a social, cultural and professional organization of writers, musicians, actors, painters, sculptors, and artist of different genres. I ...
Special Prize La Rosa Blanca given for the best children's literature of the year for the first time and repeated that award four other times in her career. In 1995, she was a finalist in the International José Martí Prize for children's Literature awarded by the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture and the San Judas Tadeo Foundation. Three years later, her poetry garnered her the Nicolás Guilén Award.
Biography
Excilia Saldaña Molina was born on 7 August 1946 in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. She grew up with her grandmother, her teenaged mother, having been abandoned by Saldaña's father. After graduating from the Pedagogical Institute in Havana, she began work as a high school teacher. She became one of the group of writers and cultural figures who established the journal, ''El Caimán Barbudo'' (The Bearded Cayman) in 1966. Her first book of poetry ''Enlloró'', an unpublished manuscript, won acclaim and received honorable mention in 1967 from the jury of the
Casa de las Américas Prize
The Casa de las Américas Prize (''Premio Literario Casa de las Américas'') is a literary award given by the Cuban Casa de las Américas. Established in 1959, it is one of Latin America’s oldest and most prestigious literary prizes.
The award ...
. That same year, some of her poetry was translated into French and published in the journal '' Les Lettres Nouvelles''. Saldaña left teaching in 1971 and began working as an editor at Editorial Casa de las Américas. The next year she became an editor at ''El Caimán Barbudo'' and then in 1975 moved to Editorial Gente Nueva.
Saldaña taught as a visiting professor in Santa Clara at the Felize Varela Teaching Institute and several other universities teaching children's literature. She was noted for her experimental forms which straddled the boundary between prose and poetry, blending in myth, folklore and meticulously studied cultural traditions. Her poetic works were often autobiographical or steeped in Afro-Cuban tradition, exploring the complexities of women's roles as both traditional mother and sexual being. Saldaña's poetry speaks about women's themes common in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, abandonment, incest, sexual violence, shame, but also nurturing and redemption from other women.
Winning numerous awards throughout her career, Saldaña received the 1979 National Ismaelillo Prize from the
National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba
The National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, UNEAC) is a social, cultural and professional organization of writers, musicians, actors, painters, sculptors, and artist of different genres. I ...
(UNEAC) and the Rosa Blanca Prize from UNEAC in 1984. She won the Rosa Blanca Prize three years in a row in 1987, 1988 and 1989, and then again in 1995. That same year, Saldaña was a finalist in the International José Martí Prize for children's Literature awarded by the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture and the San Judas Tadeo Foundation and in 1998 she was honored with UNEAC's Nicolás Guilén Award for poetry.
Saldaña died on 20 July 1999 in Havana from complications of
asthma
Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...