In the Drying Shed of Souls / En al Secadoro de Almas: Poetry from Cuba's Generation Zero / Poesía Cubana de la Generacíon Cero

[A Spanish-English Dual Language anthology featuring selections from Cubas Generation Zero including Luis Yuseff Isaily Pérez González Javier Marimón Miyares Leymen Pérez García Marcelo Morales Cintero Oscar Cruz Liuvan Herrera Carpio Jamila Medina Ríos Moisés Mayán Fernández Legna Rodríguez Iglesias and Sergio García Zamora.]Its not a cliché by any means to declare that few times in its history has Cuban poetry been more varied innovative critical and attractive than it is right now. And an undeniable part of it is what has been written by the so-called Generation Zero (Generación Cero) poets born after 1970 and who begin publishing after 2000. Its a numerous group as the title of their most complete anthology illustrates La isla en versos: Cien poetas cubanos [The Island in Verse: One Hundred Cuban poets] (2011 and 2013). In fact our selection of 11 poets was compiled having read over sixty books tens of anthologies and numerous journals and magazines. Indeed the only way to truly do justice to this poetry is to offer up book-length anthologies; our aim in these pages is to be the first to simply introduce it to English-speaking readers.These days no one expects this kind of poetry from a Cuban not in literary circles in the Spanish-speaking world on the left or the right not in North American academic and creative writing circles either. And perhaps thats why it hasnt received the attention it deserves. Though they are relatively isolated whether it be because of extremely limited access to the Internet or the difficulties of traveling off the island Generation Zero poets arent behind the times at all on the contrary they are at the forefront of poetry being written anywhere in the world. Here theres no trace of superficiality no fear of emotional complexity or intellectual density of formal rigor or experimentation. Its poetry open to reality and the most diverse forms of representation. The authors know that intellectuals participate in society through their cultural production.