Leonardo Padura, one of the best writers of contemporary Cuba, will be the first guest of Instituto Cervantes New York April series of lectures Encounters in the narrative. The author of the novel The Man Who Loved Dogs, will talk about the investigation of historical processes and the inclusion of historical characters in a work of fiction. His novel required several years of research into various materials and documents to get a coherent picture of the events described in it and as detailed as possible frame of reference for two different historical characters present in the work: on the one hand, Leon Trotsky, a very public figure, with a life that has been the subject of many biographies, on the other hand, his murderer Ramón Mercader, a man without history and multiple identities, a creature of darkness.
Biography of the author:
Padura, who was born in Havana, took a degree in Latin American literature at the University of Havana. In 1980 he first came to prominence as an investigative journalist in a literary magazine called Caimán Barbudo, a well-established publication that is still in print today. He subsequently became known as an essayist and a writer of screenplays and in particular, detective novels.
He wrote his first short novel between 1983 and 1984, Fiebre de caballos, (Horse Fever), which was basically a love story. He then spent the next six years working as journalist, reporting on a wide range of cultural and historical topics. However around this time he began to write his first novel featuring lieutenant Mario Conde, a cop who would rather be a writer, and who admits to have feelings of "solidarity with writers, crazy people, and drunkards". This character is the most well known of Padura's characters among English-speaking readers. The quartet of detective novels featuring Conde have been translated into English under the titles Havana Blue, Havana Yellow, Havana Red and Havana Black.
These books are set respectively in winter, spring, summer and autumn. Havana Black won the 1998 Premio Hammet de la Asociación Internacional de Escritores Policíacos. Padura has published two subsequent books featuring Conde, Adiós Hemingway (Padura’s first book to be translated into English, in 2005), and a recent novel La neblina del ayer (The Fog of Yesterday).
Padura's novel El hombre que amaba a los perros (The Man Who Loved Dogs) deals with the murder of Leon Trotsky and the man who assassinated him, Ramon Mercader. At almost 600 pages in length it is his most accomplished work and the result of more than five years of meticulous historical research.The novel, published in September 2009, attracted a lot of publicity mainly because of its political theme. The main argument of the author in the novel seems to be that Stalin betrayed socialism and destroyed the hope of creating a utopian society in the 20th centuryIt leaves open the possibility that such a society might still be possible in the 21st.
If you need more information or if you are interested in an interview with the author please don't hesitate to contact me.
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About Instituto Cervantes New York
Instituto Cervantes New York belongs to the Instituto Cervantes network of cultural centers. Instituto Cervantes is an institution that was founded by the Spanish government in 1991 to promote the Spanish language and Spanish and Hispanic-American culture. The central head office is located in Madrid and in Alcalá de Henares ( Madrid), birthplace of the writer Miguel de Cervantes. Instituto Cervantes is present on five continents with more than 50 centers spread out across many different countries.
Our institution is also responsible for organizing the DELE exams- Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera - (Diploma in Spanish as a Foreign Language), as well as issuing official certificates and diplomas for the participants of our courses; organizing Spanish courses; organizing training courses for teachers; supporting Hispanists in their activities andencouraging cultural activities in collaboration with other organizations.
The work of Instituto Cervantes is directed by representatives from the academic, cultural and literary world within the field of Spanish and Hispanic-America. In New york, the Institute collaborates with museums, galleries, theatres, publishing houses and other cultural institutions, as well as Spanish and Latin-American organizations.
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