MIAMI, United States. – The Cuban writer Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, 73 years old and known for his Dirty Havana Trilogyhas published twenty titles translated into more than 15 languages and has received important awards, but it has never been recognized on the Island.
In an interview with the AP agencythe writer reflected on the impact of his work on Cuban culture and stressed that his intention has never been to do politics but to “leave a memory of the time and place” in which he has lived.
In fact, he assured that he has focused on giving testimony of a very specific sector of the population: the marginals of the Centro Habana neighborhood.
His works, which include The King of Havana, Tropical Animal and Fabian and chaoshave been internationally acclaimed but have generated controversy on the Island. Despite winning international awards such as the Alfonso Reyes for tropical animal and the Southern Narratives by Meat of dogGutiérrez has never been awarded in Cuba.
The writer acknowledges that his literature is not for everyone and that “a person who is a little conventional, a little academic is not interested (…) or he calmly rejects it.” However, he has found an enthusiastic audience among the new Cuban generations and in countries like Spain, Mexico and Colombia.
After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, Gutiérrez ―born in Matanzas in 1950― worked as a journalist in official media, particularly in the magazine Bohemia, from where he was expelled
Dirty Havana Trilogy It was written in 1994 as a response to the serious economic and humanitarian crisis known by the euphemism of “Special Period”.
Although much of the material in his stories is autobiographical, Gutiérrez told the AP that he also uses fiction. “I arrived in Centro Habana when I was 36 years old and I was amazed,” explained the writer, who still lives in that densely populated area, the scene of many of his stories.
Regarding his sources of inspiration and his literary philosophy, he said: “Good people are not good for literature, what is good for literature are poisonous people, with problems, with difficulties, serial killers, bad people, demonic people. , people who live in hell. Nobody is interested in the stories of good people simply, simply, because it is boring.
Regarding his future projects, Gutiérrez assured that he is working on volumes of poetry and short stories set in the 50s and 60s of the last century. For now, he said, he does not have another novel or film adaptations in mind.
