BIOGRAPHY
Heberto Padilla was born in Pinar del Río, Cuba, in 1932. In 1948, he published his first collection of poems, "Las Rosas Audaces" (The Audacious Roses). In 1956, he traveled to the United States as an immigrant. From that time onwards, his life unfolded in both short and long stays in Cuba and abroad.
He returned to Cuba in 1959 to work at the newspaper "Revolución," where he engaged in constant literary activity in the supplement "Lunes." In 1960, he was appointed chief correspondent in London for the news agency Prensa Latina, and in 1962, he became a correspondent in the then Soviet Union.
In 1968, a political scandal erupted following the award and publication of his poetry book "Fuera del Juego" (Out of the Game). In 1980, he managed to leave Cuba and reunite with his family in the United States.
Padilla lived a significant part of his exile in the United States, where he worked at various universities as a literature professor.
He passed away in Alabama in September 2000 while serving as a professor at Auburn University.
Poetry
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Las rosas audaces, 1949
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El justo tiempo humano, 1962
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La hora, Cuadernos de Poesía 10 (Sets of Poems 10), La Tertulia, La Habana, 1964
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Fuera del juego, 1968
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Provocaciones, 1973
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Poesía y política - Poetry and Politics, bilingual anthology, Playor, Madrid, Georgetown University Cuban series, 1974
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El hombre junto al mar, Seix Barral, Barcelona, 1981
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Un puente, una casa de piedra, 1998
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Puerta de Golpe, anthology created by Belkis Cuza Malé, Linden Lane Press, 2013
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Una época para hablar, anthology that contains all of Padilla's poetry, Luminarias / Letras Cubanas, 2013
Narratives
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El buscavidas, novel, 1963
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En mi jardín pastan los héroes, novel, Editorial Argos Vergara, Barcelona, 1981
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La mala memoria, memoir, Plaza & Janés, Barcelona, 1989 (Eng. translation: Self-portrait of the other 1989)