Arts and Literature of Cuba

from leaving. But he managed to slip past the authorities, and take the Mariel boatlift to free- dom, by altering the name on his passport. Arenas settled in New York City. There, in a span of 10 years, he produced poetry; short stories; novels, including four more that, along with the earlier Celestino , would com- prise what he envisioned as a “secret history” of Cuba after the revolution; and Before Night Falls . Dying of AIDS, Reinaldo Arenas committed suicide in December 1990. “I do not want to convey to you a message of

Reinaldo Arenas wrote poetry, short stories, and novels but is best known for his autobiog- raphy, Before Night Falls .

defeat but of continued struggle and of hope,” he wrote in a final letter he sent to friends and submitted to newspapers. “Cuba will be free. I already am.” Carlos Eire: Cuban Confessions “The world changed while I slept, and much to my surprise, no one had consulted me. That’s how it would always be from that day forward. Of course, that’s the way it had been all along. I just didn’t know it until that morning.” So begins Carlos Eire’s memoir Waiting for Snow in Havana:

64

Arts and Literature of Cuba