Legna Rodríguez Iglesias (born 1984) is a Cuban poet, playwright, and short story writer. Her work is often characterized by absurdist humor and playfully perverse observations of everyday life in contemporary Cuba and Miami, as well as cross-genre experimentation with

prose poetry Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. However, it make ...

and

narrative poetry Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need to rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may ...

. Four of her poems, in the original Spanish and in English translation, were featured in

The Kenyon Review ''The Kenyon Review'' is a literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, home of Kenyon College. ''The Review'' was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959. ''T ...

's 2018 special issue on new Cuban poetry.

Personal life

She is originally from

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 333,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by Sp ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. She currently lives in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Honors

She has won several Cuban awards including, Julio Cortázar Ibero-American Short Story Prize in 2011, the Casa de Las Américas Prize in Theater in 2016, and the Wolsan-Cuba Poetry Prize in 2013 for her collection ''La Gran Arquitecta.'' Since 1984,

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (MDC) is a public university, public college located in Miami, Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1959, MDC operates eight campuses and numerous outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade Count ...

(MDC) has organized an annual festival called Miami Book Fair, which lasts eight days every November. Miami Book Fair, in alliance with the

National Poetry Series The National Poetry Series is an American literary awards program. Every year since 1979, the National Poetry Series has sponsored the publication of five books of poetry. Manuscripts are solicited through an annual open competition, judged and c ...

, announced the Cuban poet Legna Rodriguez was the winner of the 2016 Paz Prize for Poetry for the book ''Miami Century'' Fox. ''Miami Century Fox'' works with similar themes as her other poems' essence, dealing with immigrant experiences, identity problems, love, and body. In July 2018, her short story collection ''Mi novia preferida fue un bulldog francés'' (

Alfaguara Alfaguara is a Spanish-language publishing house that serves markets in Hispanic America, Spain and the United States. It was founded by the Spanish writer and Nobel Prize winner Camilo José Cela. History and profile Alfaguara was establishe ...

, 2017) was nominated for the Gabriel García Márquez Hispano-American Short Story Prize by the Colombian Ministry of Culture and the

National Library of Colombia The National Library of Colombia () is a national library located in Bogota, Colombia. The library is a dependency of the Ministry of Culture (Colombia), Colombian Ministry of Culture. Founding and history The National Library of Colombia is g ...

Works

Poetry

* ''Chicle (ahora es cuando)'' (Havana: Cuba Editorial, 2016) * ''Hilo + hilo'' (Leiden: Bokeh, 2015) * ''Miami Century Fox'' (New York: Akashic Books, 2017)

Fiction

* "Ne Me Quite Pas" (Havana: Editorial Abril, 2009) * ''Hasta Feldafing no paro y otros relatos'' (Havana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 2012) * Mayonesa bien Brillante (una novela de amor) (Matanzas: Ediciones Matanzas,2012) * ''No sabe/no contesta'' (Havana: Editorial Caja China, 2015) * ''Mi novia preferida fue un bulldog francés'' (Madrid: Alfaguara, 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodríguez Iglesias, Legna 1984 births Living people 21st-century Cuban women writers Writers from Miami People from Camagüey Cuban expatriates in the United States Cuban writers