On December 30, 2022, Cuba celebrated the centennial of the birth of founder and director of the Casa de las Américas, Haydée Santamaría. In her honor, Casa de las Américas and Ocean Sur co-published the volume Haydée Santamaría: Hay que defender la vida [Haydee Santamaría. We must defend life] a compilation edited by Jaime Gómez Triana and Ana Niria Albo Díaz, which brings together letters, speeches, conversations, and interviews—some, previously unpublished.
The book received renewed recognition on January 6, 2024, with a public launch at the first Sábado del Libro de 2024 event, organized by the Cuban Book Institute (ICL), at the square at Calle de Madera, Old Havana, Cuba. The book was presented by Jaime Gómez Triana and former Minister of Culture Abel Prieto. The present Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso, was also present at the launch. [Book description included below.]
Casa de las Américas shared the following video, explaining, “to learn about Haydee’s extreme sensitivity, the depth of her ideas on revolutionary cultural politics, and the fight for all justice, we recommend the material available on YouTube.” [The video features Ana Niria Albo Díaz, co-editor of the book, and literary critic Caridad Tamayo Fernández.]
Description: Haydee Santamaría, a fighter of the Moncada Battle, the underground struggle, the Sierra Maestra, and exile, was a passionate and honorable woman. As founder and director of the Casa de las Americas, she carried out the enormous task of consolidating Cuba’s cultural ties with the rest of our Continent. Her loyalty to the Cuban Revolution and the leadership of Fidel Castro was unwavering. Her faith in the triumph of justice and her understanding of the role of culture in the liberation of human beings never wavered.
We know that, for many, the texts gathered here will be new, and that many readers will be surprised to discover the dazzling stature of a heroine with hitherto unknown edges. This is not, however, a definitive selection, it could not be, so we hope that it stimulates new approaches that continue to shed light on her figure and on the ideas that she embraced and always defended.
Haydee Santamaría’s thought – the result of an era and of her political commitment – was always bold, never dogmatic or rhetorical, and will continue to contribute to the ideology of emancipation in the present and in the future, as well as to the struggles of Cuba and other peoples for all justice. That is why, as [Roberto Fernández] Retamar wrote in the poem he dedicated to her death, “la seguimos necesitando” [we continue to need her].
For articles on launch, see https://cubarte.cult.cu/periodico-cubarte/hay-que-defender-la-vida-yeye/, https://cubarte.cult.cu/periodico-cubarte/haydee-santamaria-hay-que-defender-la-vida/, and https://www.cubainformacion.tv/genero/20240105/106895/106895-cimarronascomparte-haydee-santamaria-hay-que-defender-la-vida
Also see http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2023/02/01/hay-que-defender-la-vida/ and https://www.ministeriodecultura.gob.cu/es/actualidad/noticias/homenaje-a-haydee-santamaria-en-encuentro-de-mujeres-en-cuba
For book information, see https://www.oceansur.com/catalogo/titulos/haydee-santamaria-2
On December 30, 2022, Cuba celebrated the centennial of the birth of founder and director of the Casa de las Américas, Haydée Santamaría. In her honor, Casa de las Américas and Ocean Sur co-published the volume Haydée Santamaría: Hay que defender la vida [Haydee Santamaría. We must defend life] a compilation edited by Jaime Gómez Triana
