From April 23 to 26, 2026, Cuban poets will participate virtually in the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival, held in Texas, United States, from Cameron County to Hidalgo County. The event is organized by FlowerSong Press, an independent publisher based in McAllen, Texas, which reaffirms its love for Cuba and its firm commitment to denouncing the cultural and economic blockade imposed by the Trump Administration.
The participation of Cuban writers will take place through audiovisual capsules, as a demonstration of cultural resistance in the face of the limitations imposed by the embargo.
Participating poets
Yeilén Delgado Calvo (Matanzas, 1990)
Writer and journalist, member of the AHS. She has won the Portus Patris Narrative Prize (2021) and El árbol que silva y canta (2021). Author of Todas las bestias de la tierra (2023), La ingratitud de predicar (2022), and Radar (2016). Her featured poems will be “Remending the Nest,” “Skin Color,” and “Inverse Birth.”
Verónica Alemán Cruz (Havana, 1989)
Journalist and writer, holds a degree in Literature from the University of Havana. She collaborates with cultural media such as La Jiribilla and works with the poetry magazine Amnios. Her work focuses on the defense of Cuban identity and cultural critique. She will present the poems “You,” “What My Rib Hides,” and “Poem to the Poet I Watch.”
Sinecio Verdecía Díaz (Havana, 1974)
Performance poet, singer-songwriter, and oral narrator. Director of the House of Poetry at the Office of the Historian of Havana. His poems “Endless Poetry,” “Clean Heart,” and “Anonymous Song” are part of the audiobook Canto anónimo.
Karel Leyva Ferrer (Santiago de Cuba, 1975)
Writer and cultural promoter, president of the Poetry Section of UNEAC. He has published more than a dozen titles and received international recognitions such as the César Vallejo Prize (2021) and an Honorary Doctorate from the International Forum of Creativity and Humanity of Morocco (2021).
Denunciation of the cultural blockade
Edward Vidaurre, editor and poet and director of FlowerSong Press, expressed his gratitude to the Cuban poets and reaffirmed that the U.S. embargo limits not only trade but also cultural and literary exchange. He noted that Cuban literature is a critical and transformative reference point, and that projects such as the Living Anthology of Contemporary Cuban Poetry seek to highlight current voices from the island and its diaspora.
Vidaurre emphasized that the literatures of the Caribbean and Latino communities in the United States share historical roots of resistance, dignity, and cultural preservation. Within that network, Cuba occupies a central place as a space of shared memory.
With respect and admiration, FlowerSong Press joins the voices calling for an end to the blockade and upholds culture as a space of encounter and resistance.
(Source: Cubarte)