The Cuban writer Legna Rodríguez Iglesias became the winner of the “Franz Kafka” Essay/Testimony Prize 2024, for her work Princess Miami: Political and population atlas.
Organized by the inCUBAdora platform, the award is dedicated to essayistic and non-fiction works that address problems from the author’s perspective. This year’s jury was made up of essayists and academics, Mirta Suquet, Irina Garbatzky and Jorge Luis Arcos.
Rodríguez’s work won the award unanimously, for the “singularity and clarity of style” with which the author exposes the dark aspects of Cuba’s marginal reality, with an overwhelming topography, according to Suquet.
For her part, the Argentine poet Garbatzky praised the work as a successful cross between essay, testimony and chronicle, focused on the theme of exile and the living conditions of a Cuban immigrant in Miami.
In that sense, he especially highlighted the originality and unique style of the writing, characterized by a biting, ironic tone, both humorous and poetic.
At the same time, the Cuban essayist Arcos compared the work with Speed, by the Argentine writer Pablo Laborde, and described it as a comic and tragic artifact, full of “pure imagination.” He also made reference to its metaphysical hedonistic character and related it to Quentin Tarantino’s film, Jackie Brown.
Born in Camagüey in 1984, Legna Rodríguez Iglesias is a prominent Cuban poet, short story writer and playwright. She is a member of both the UNEAC (National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists) and the AHS (Hermanos Saíz Association), she with a recognized literary career.
Rodríguez is an important figure in the Cuban literary scene, with a prolific work that has garnered important recognitions such as the “Julio Cortázar” Ibero-American Short Story Award in 2011, as well as the Matanzas City Foundation Award, among others.
In addition to her work as a writer, Rodríguez Iglesias is known for her columns Irrelevant in the digital magazine The sneezey 53 Noviecitasin Hypermedia Magazinewhere he shares opinion articles on various topics of interest.
The work of Legna Rodríguez Iglesias transcends linguistic borders, being translated into English, German, Italian and Portuguese, which has allowed her voice to reach an increasingly wider audience.
The Franz Kafka Essay/Testimony Prize was created at the end of 2021 with the purpose of rescuing and offering an opportunity for circulation to academic studies, texts published in blogs or magazines, written by Cuban authors and researchers in all latitudes.
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