Emerio Medina

Cuban author Emerio Medina Peña (Mayarí, 1966) studied Mechanical Engineering in the former Soviet Union. After returning to Cuba, be began work as a mechanical engineer, which he ultimately abandoned to dedicate himself fulltime to writing. Known throughout Cuba as “the engineer who writes,” Medina is the recipient of some of Latin America’s most prestigious literary awards, for both novel and short story, including the Casa de las Américas Prize, the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists Prize, the Julio Cortázar Ibero-American Prize, and the Alejo Carpentier Prize. His most recent novel, Los fantasmas de hierro, is reviewed in this edition of Latin American Literature Today. In addition, we are honored to publish for the first time, his short story “Bienvenido, Sr. Kerry.” He continues to live in his hometown of Mayarí, Holguin Province.