Karla Suárez
Karla Suárez (born October 28, 1969 in La Habana, Cuba) is a Cuban writer.
Biography
She grew up in Havana, where she ended up studying Electronic Engineering, without leaving aside her interest for literature.
The beginning of her career as a writer was the publication of some of her short stories in several anthologies and magazines. The tale Aniversario (t: Anniversary) was adapted for the stage in 1996. Her first collection, Espuma (t: Foam) was published three years later, and two of its short stories were made into TV scripts for Cuban television.
Her debut novel Silencios (t: Silence) won the Spanish award Lengua de Trapo in 1999 and has been translated into French, Portuguese, Italian, German and Slovak. In 2010 this novel was adapted for the stage in France and, in 2013, the University choral ensemble of Montpellier, Ecume, has made "Cubana soy", a creation for the musical theatre.
Her second short stories' collection, Carroza para actores (t: Carriage for Actors), was published in 2001.
Suárez's latest novel, La viajera (t: The Traveller) has been translated into French, Portuguese and Italian.
She also wrote the stories for two books of photos collections, published in 2007: Cuba les chemins du hasard (t: Cuba, The Paths of Chance), with the Italian photographer Francesco Gattoni and Grietas en las paredes (t: Cracks), with the Luxembourgois photographer Yvon Lambert.
She got scholarships in Cuba (Razón de Ser) and France (Centre National du Livre, Paris; Maison des Ecrivains Etrangers et Traducteurs, Saint-Nazaire; Agence Régionale pour l'Écrit et le Livre en Aquitanie, Bordeaux; and Clermont Communauté, Clermont-Ferrand.
In 2003, she won the Italian award for international short stories I colori delle Donne and in both 2006 and 2007 was a member of the jury for the International Literature (Short Stories) Award Juan Rulfo, sponsored by Radio France International in Paris.
In 2007, the Hay Festival and the organizers of the Bogotá World Book Capital selected Karla Suárez as one of the 39 highest profile Latin American writers under the age of 39.
There she keeps on working as a freelance computer specialist as well as an author and a teacher of Creative Writing. In addition, she often writes for the Spanish newspaper El País.
Her latest novel Habana, año cero (t: Havana, Year Zero) was published in Portugal in 2011 and in France in 2012. This novel won the French Prize Carbet from the Caribbean and Tout-Monde and the French award of the insular book in 2012.
After five years in Rome and six in Paris, she now lives in Lisbon from 2010. She coordinate the Reading Club of Lisbon Instituto Cervantes.
Bibliography
Novels:
- 1999: Silencios (t: Silence). Spain, Lengua de Trapo, ISBN 84-89618-39-9 / RBA, 2002 / Punto de Lectura, 2008, ISBN 978-84-663-2233-1. Cuba, Letras Cubanas, 2008. (Premio Lengua de Trapo, 1999).
- 2005: La viajera (t: The Traveller). Spain, Roca Editorial, ISBN 84-96284-82-4.
- 2011: Havana Ano Zero. Portugal, Editorial Quetzal, ISBN 978-972-564-928-2. (French Prize Carbet from the Caribbean and Tout-Monde 2012, and the French award of the insular book 2012)
Stories:
- 1999: Espuma (t: Foam). Cuba, Letras Cubanas, ISBN 959-10-0485-0. Colombia, Norma, 2001, ISBN 958-04-7014-6.
- 2001: Carroza para actores (t: A Carriage for Actors). Colombia, Norma, ISBN 958-04-6278-X.
- 2007: Grietas en las paredes (Photos: Yvon Lambert) (t: Cracks). Belgium, Husson, ISBN 978-2-916249-22-3.
Book Travel:
- 2007: Cuba les chemins du hasard (Photos: Francesco Gattoni) (t: Cuba, The Paths of Chance). France, Le bec en l'air, ISBN 978-2-916073-26-2.