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LIFE In 1962, Arenas moved to Havana to enroll in the School of Planification and, later, in the Faculty of Letters at the Universidad De La Habana , where he studied philosophy and literature without completing a degree. The following year, he began working at the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí. {Link without Title} While there, his talent was noticed and he was awarded prizes at Cirilo Villaverde National Competition held by UNEAC (National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists). (Soto 1998) Interestingly, his ''Hallucinations'' was awarded “first Honorable Mention” in 1966 although, as the judges could find no better entry, no First Prize was awarded that year. (Colchie 2001) His writings and openly gay lifestyle were, by 1967, bringing him into conflict with the Communist government. He left the Biblioteca Nacional and became an editor for the Cuban Book Institute until 1968. From 1968 to 1974 he was a journalist and editor for the literary magazine ''La Gaceta de Cuba''. In 1973, he was sent to prison after being charged and convicted of 'ideological deviation' and for publishing abroad without official consent. He escaped from prison and tried to leave Cuba by launching himself from the shore on a tyre inner tube. The attempt failed and he was re-arrested near Lenin Park and imprisoned at the notorious El Morro Castle alongside murderers and rapists. He survived by helping the inmates to write letters to wives and lovers. He was able to collect enough paper this way to continue his writing. However, his attempts to smuggle his work out of prison were discovered and he was severely punished. Threatened with death he was forced to renounce his work and was released in 1976. {Link without Title} In 1980, as part of the Port of Mariel exodus, he fled to the United States. {Link without Title} WRITINGS Despite his short life and the hardships imposed during his imprisonment, Arenas produced a significant body of work. The Pentagonia a set of five novels that comprise a “secret history” of post revolutionary Cuba include the poetical '' Farewell To The Sea '', '' Palace Of The White Skunks '' and the Rabelaisian '' Color Of Summer ''. In these novels Arenas’ style ranges from a stark realist narrative to absurd satiric humor to trace his own life story in what to him is the absurd world of Castro’s Cuba. In each of the novels, Arenas, himself is a major character, going by a number of pseudonyms. His autobiography, '' Before Night Falls '' was on the New York Times list of the ten best books of the year in 1993 . In 2000 this work was made into a film, directed by Julian Schnabel , in which Arenas was played by Javier Bardem . DEATH In 1987, Arenas was diagnosed with AIDS . After battling the illness, Arenas took an overdose of drugs and alcohol in 1990. In a suicide letter written for publication, Arenas wrote: Due to my delicate state of health and to the terrible depression it causes me not to be able to continue writing and struggling for the freedom of Cuba, I am ending my life. . . . I want to encourage the Cuban people out of the country as well as on the Island to continue fighting for freedom. . . . Cuba will be free. I already am. {Link without Title} NOTABLE WORKS
REFERENCES {Link without Title} . There is a biography at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247196/board/thread/15245408 (you have to be logged in to see it). Thomas Colchie, Introduction ‘’Hallucinations’’ (2001) ISBN 0142000191 Francisco Soto and Gary Soto, (1998), "Reinaldo Arenas: The Pentagonía", Macmillan Library Reference, 185 pages, ISBN 0805745548 (hardcover) |