BY JACK WILLEY
CHICAGO - Norberto Codina, editor of the Cuban cultural
magazine La Gaceta de Cuba, arrived in Chicago September 29 for
a four-week lecture series at several university campuses and
other cultural venues.
La Gaceta de Cuba, published by the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, is a leading forum for discussion on culture, politics, and the challenges facing the Cuban revolution today. Its pages reflect a wide range of viewpoints being debated in Cuba today.
Codina is speaking about art and culture in Cuba, holding readings of his poetry, and meeting with writers, artists, and others in the cities he is visiting.
He was one of several dozen Cuban writers and scholars who recently won visas to be able to accept invitations by academic institutions in the United States. The Latin American Scholars Association (LASA) invited them to participate in their September 24-26 national conference in Chicago. After initial stalling, the U.S. State Department finally granted the visas after pressure from those inviting the Cubans. Some of the visiting academics, however, were then delayed by Hurricane Georges and arrived late or, in the case of Codina and others, not in time for the LASA conference. Some of them did go on to participate in events in other cities.
In New York, the editor of La Gaceta is speaking at a public meeting at Casa de las Américas October 2. He then goes to Boston, where his visit begins with a poetry reading and reception at the University of Massachusetts in Boston on October 5. The event is sponsored by several Latino academic institutions and student groups. The following day, he will speak to garment workers at a lunchtime meeting, hosted by Local 1 of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, and will give a poetry reading at Tufts University that evening.
From Boston, the Cuban poet will travel to the San Francisco Bay Area. On October 9, he will speak at the University of California in Santa Cruz.
The following evening, he will give a poetry reading at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco that will be introduced by well-known Puerto Rican writer Piri Thomas and the director of the center. The Ethnic Studies, African American Studies, and Spanish/Portuguese Studies Departments at UC Berkeley are sponsoring an event for him October 12.
After speaking in the Bay Area, the Cuban poet will travel to Minneapolis, Chicago, and return to New York.