La Avellaneda Medal to Reina María Rodríguez

Reina María Rodríguez, recipient of the 2022 La Avellaneda Medal, the highest recognition in letters conferred by the Cuban Cultural Center of New York, is one of the most representative poets of contemporary Cuban literature. Although her early poetry shows the influence of colloquialism, she has sought to develop a complex, philosophical voice, creating a space for difference within an ideologically saturated environment. Born in Havana in 1952, less than a decade before the Cuban revolution, she has been recognized in Cuba not only as a major poet but as an advocate for alternative (non-state) cultural spaces. She used her rooftop home, informally known as la azotea de Reina, as an intellectual salon that became an important literary hub in Havana for three decades.