Who is Georgina Herrera?

Georgina is a contemporary Cuban poet currently living in Havana, Cuba. My friend, Sonia Rivera-Valdes, during a visit to Cuba in 1994, took a slide of Georgina sitting across a restaurant table from her. On her return to New York City, she showed me her slides. I was fascinated by Georgina’s face.

Sonia also gave me a slim volume of poetry of Georgina’s that had won a Cuban literary prize. I was further drawn in and proceeded not only to make this print but to translate some of the poetry into English so it could have a slightly wider audience. My translation of her poem “A modo de fortuna” ("In the way of fortune”) along with a black and white copy of this print was published in Bridges to Cuba, edited by Ruth Behar and published by the University of Michigan Press in 1995.

My friend, Sonia Rivera-Valdes is also a well-known writer and has published two books of short stories: Las historias prohibidas de Marta Veneranda which is also available asThe Forbidden Stories of Marta Veneranda by Seven Stories Press and most recently Historias de mujeres grandes y chiquitas by Editorial Campana .