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

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:

Reinaldo Arenas wrote poetry, short stories,

and novels but is best known for his autobiog-

raphy,

Before Night Falls