Book Draws Attention to Cuban Exile's Literary Works

A new book by Dr. Margarita Krakusin, Alma College associate professor of Spanish, is bringing well-deserved attention to another author and gaining recognition in the Cuban exile community of Miami, Fla.

Krakusin's book, Entre el Crilio y la memoria: La Obra de Josefina Leyva published in Spanish only, analyzes the writings and poetry of Josefina Leyva, a former Cuban university professor who fled the Castro regime in the 1980s and settled in Venezuela. Krakusin's recent book tour through Florida brought numerous requests for her book and for information on Leyva's published works.

The Cuban author's writings have struck a nerve in the "Transitional Generation," the Cuban children who were taken or sent by their parents from their native country after Castro took control. In Pedro Pan: El Crodo de los Ninos Cubanos, written as a fictional novel, Leyva documents the problems suffered by the Cuban immigrant children scattered throughout the U.S.

Conflicted by patriotism to two countries or angered by the perception of abandonment by their parents, and despite success achieved by much of the generation, the exiles are only now realizing and expressing their emotional turmoil. Leyva's documentation of the exiles' history and politics of the time have helped start a healing process.

Well known in Spanish-speaking literary circles, the suspicious and political nature of the Cuban exile community has hindered the mass distribution of Leyva's writings. Krakusin's appearances on the Spanish language Mambi radio and Univision television stations have brought attention to Leyva's books.

"Nobody paid attention to the problems of the children," Krakusin says. "She (Leyva) touches so many critical points that are not talked about -- social class, race, prostitution, homosexuality -- things that could never be talked about in Cuba or Miami."

With the death of the first immigrants to flee Castro's rule, their American-born children are thirsting for knowledge of their heritage and the political and social circumstances that defined their destiny.

The attention surprises the Alma College professor since she wrote her book as a text for her Spanish literature classes. But, for unselfish reasons, she is glad that her book is gaining acceptance.

"I am happy with that. Anything that helps (Leyva), that pleases me a lot."

A native of Colombia, Krakusin lives in East Lansing.