On “Kat of Nine”, Jenny Cressman’s Cuba-Based Short Story Collection
HAVANA TIMES – I just finished reading “Kat of Nine” [collection of nine short stories set in different moments of Cuban history], by Canadian author Jenny Cressman. The book brings together nine tales, all pleasantly written, with each one set in key moments of Cuba’s history.
Beginning with the original people’s first encounter with the European colonizers and its tragic outcome, it continues through the eras of slavery and then the attacks of the pirates and corsairs on the future town of Camaguey. Later stories involve the English takeover of Havana, and the collection culminates with a story about the challenges people have encountered in this latest stage – the emigration, the demonstrations, and the political prisoners, such as those after July 11, 2021.
One interesting feature is that all of the protagonists of these stories are women. This is particularly meaningful when we consider that in Cuba – as in nearly all the world where a macho and patriarchal culture has dominated – history is told by men and highlights the decisions, participations and ideals of that gender far more than the contributions of their women companions. The text is accompanied with drawings created by artists from the Cuban municipalities of Pilon, Manzanillo and Bayamo.
The book was presented as part of the UNEAC’s [National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists] week of culture in the city of Bayamo, and was accompanied by dance, songs and theater. I had never attended the presentation of a book that hadn’t been published in the country, but on Amazon, as was the case with this one. Not to mention of a book that treated such sensitive, even daring, topics, if we don’t lose sight of the fact that the cultural activity took place in a society governed by a totalitarian regime. Normally, they allow only declarations, creations or contributions that coincide with the officially established line of the one party that has led the country for over six decades.
All of this gave me cause for thought: I was in the city considered the cradle of Cuban culture at a historic moment.
Good omen for these times? How could I see it otherwise? I don’t believe this type of experience could have been in another time. In our country the censorship has been rooted more firmly in the ground than the plantains and the mangos.
The publication of an entire book of poetry has been banned, along with its presentation or awards, merely because of the perception of some “subversive” verse. So, how can we imagine they’d react after discovering a tale that describes one of the biggest demonstrations in our history since 1959, and one not oriented by the government, but rather rebelling against it? The protagonist also speaks about other demonstrations in the country, and her grandmother and mother’s decisions to emigrate. Further, the story ends by telling how the main character lives long enough to see freed “all those who were imprisoned after the July 11 protests.”
Obviously, this would have been inconceivable in past years.
It’s true that the author isn’t Cuban and as such, this won’t cause her any kind of problems. Maybe, as she declared in an interview: “the project was born as a hobby,” and her culture, mentality, and possibilities allowed her to take it on as such. It remains to be seen if “this kind of pastime,” transformed into literature that speaks a lot of truth, would have occurred to any of the women in our native land.
All in all, I feel that in, some way, precedents are being created that reveal to us a social evolution at the hour of creating, sharing, believing and constructing our social and cultural world. And this, in my opinion, is the most important thing.
In that spirit, I celebrate “Kat of Nine,” and invite you to read it.
*The short story collection Kat of Nine is available in a Spanish-English bilingual edition at: https://www.amazon.com/Kat-Nine-Nueve-Jenny-Cressman/dp/1069622907