Jorge Reyes (March 9, 1971 – March 13, 2015) was a Cuban-born, American author known for authoring books in several genres. He is an honor graduate (1993) of
Barry University
Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is located within the Archdiocese of Miami.
Th ...
, from which he received a B.A. in history, a B.S in political science, and a minor in literature. He died in Miami on March 13, 2015, after a short illness.
Biography
Early life
Born in
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana.
The municipality extends over , and contains t ...
, Reyes left
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
with his parents via
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
, before settling permanently in
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
in 1982.
Writing
Reyes has written books in several genres of literature: biography, fiction, non-fiction, children's books and poetry.
Most of what is known about Reyes's childhood was penned down by Reyes himself in his book, ''
Rediscovering Cuba: A Personal Memoir'', published in 2001. In it, he talks about his childhood days in a small town called Boniato on the outskirts of Santiago de Cuba. The book itself, based on a family emergency, became also an analysis of Cuba's present condition as viewed by Reyes himself. Reyes's method of choosing to write his Cuban memoirs displayed some writing skills for which he has been noted, mainly:
# The ability to utilize a wide array of genres in unexpected but highly effective visual ways;
# The ability to write biographical themes, such as his Cuban memoirs, which many writers reserve for fictional accounts, such as: stream of consciousness, poetry, and even short-stories in order to explain non-fictional accounts of events.
In 2003, Reyes surprised his readership by publishing, among other things, a book of poems titled, ''My Words Mean Something.'' Poetry, however, is the genre Reyes returned to with the publication of "Day's Night," published in 2014.
Bibliography
*Guia Para Descubrir Tu Cuerpo (Your Body) (2000)
*Rediscovering Cuba: A Personal Memoir (2001)
*My Words Mean Something (2003)
*Day's Night (2014)
;Forthcoming books
*Caramelo's Dream (short stories)
* This and that (Essays)
See also
*
List of Cuban American writers
See also
* Cuban American literature
* List of Cuban writers
* List of Cuban women writers
* List of Cuban Americans
* Before Columbus Foundation
References
Bibliography
* (Anthology; includes writer biographies)
* (Anthology; includes ...
*
List of Cuban Americans
External links
The 2002 Miami International Book Fair
(article by Jorge Reyes, ''The Miami Herald'', 2001)
The Reyes Report: A biweekly column
at Blogspot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reyes, Jorge
1972 births
2015 deaths
People from Santiago de Cuba
American writers of Cuban descent
Barry University alumni