Inés María Martiatu Terry

Born in La Habana, to professional parents, Inés María studied high school at the La Habana institute, where she was a classmate of filmmaker Sara Gómez. There she met and shared experiences with Nancy Morejon.

She practiced cultural journalism in the Mella magazine and later in the Association of Rebel Youth, where she had a section called Entertainment, six pages that comprised: Film Notes, Theater Notes, What You See on TV, Ballet Notes and Tidbits. At that time, Sara Gómez and Inés María were only 18 years old. They also collaborated on the cultural pages Hoy Domingo, from the newspaper Hoy.

She studied History at the University of La Habana. She completed music studies at the Municipal Conservatory, today "Amadeo Roldán". She was a student of the Ethnology and Folklore seminar founded by musician, ethnologist and professor Argeliers León, where she had as classmates Rogelio Martínez Furé, Miguel Barnet and Alberto Pedro Diaz, among others. She later joined Sara Gómez on the ICAIC payroll, where she remained for a long time. Subsequently she worked at the Revolución y Cultura magazine.

She served as a theater advisor and founder of the Popular Art Theater Group, led by Tito Junco, Eugenio Hernández and Gerardo Fulleda León.

Inés María Martiatu devoted herself to studying Afro-Cuban theater in depth, insisting on ritual. To her authorship corresponds Wamilere Teatro, the only book published on the Island on this subject. In addition to her numerous publications on rituality, theater and popular culture, her prologues and critical reviews of theater books, she edited a volume of short stories titled Over the waves and other Stories, (Swan Isle Press, Chicago, 2008) and a small book of short stories: Algo bueno e interesante.

Her field of professional interest encompasses various aspects related to African influence in Cuban culture, racial discrimination and interracial relations, and other aspects of class, gender and race that concern the Black woman who is the protagonist in almost all her stories. Regarding theater, she has created a specialization within Cuban theater studies by examining the influence of mythological and ritual aspects from African cultures. She has given lectures in Venezuela, in Caracas and in Barlovento (1991). In the United States, lectures at York College and at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (1992). As a narrator she participated in the Congress of Caribbean Women Writers of Spanish Language at Hunter College at the City University of New York and at the University of Miami (1998). In Bogotá, Colombia, during Afro-Colombian Week, she gave lectures at the National Archive and in Quibdó, (May 2008).

In October 2011 she traveled to the United States invited by the University of Wilmington, North Carolina. She also gave lectures at Loyola University and at the Instituto Cervantes in Chicago and in Santa Cruz, one of the campuses of the University of California. At each of these universities her book Over the Waves and other Stories/Sobre las olas y otros cuentos, published by Swanisle Press, University of Chicago Press, 2009, was presented. She has collaborated with the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of La Habana, advising, and serving as tutor, opponent and jury member in thesis of diploma and doctorate in Afro-Cuban Studies and at the Higher Institute of Art of La Habana as tutor and opponent of diploma work in dramaturgy.

She belongs to the Chair of African Studies "Argeliers León" of the Higher Institute of Art of La Habana in the capacity of Advisor. She is a collaborator of the "Fernando Ortiz" Foundation. She is a member of the Expert Council of the National Council of Performing Arts of the Ministry of Culture. She is part of the Association of Performing Artists and of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba of the UNEAC, as well as of the International Association of Theater Critics. Since 1984 she has maintained a regular section of chronicles in the Cuba Internacional magazine published by Prensa Latina. She manages the blogs Inés María escritora afrocubana; AfroCubanas and Teatro afroamericano together with researcher and professor from the University of Belo Horizonte Marcos Alexandre).

Active Bibliography
Theater of Eugenio Hernández. Selection and prologue. Editorial Letras Cubanas. La Habana, 1989.
Algo bueno e interesante (short stories) Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana 1993.
Ritual as Representation. Caribbean Ritual Theater (essays) Editorial Unión, La Habana 2000.
Whirlwind in the Waters and Other Works by Gerardo Fulleda León (selection and prologue). Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 2004.
A Shared Passion: María Antonia (essays) Selection and prologue. Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 2004.
The Beautiful Art of Being. Anthology of Theater by Tomás González. Selection and prologue Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 2005.
Wanilere teatro, anthology of mythological and ritual theater. Various authors (selection, prologue and bibliographic notes). Editorial Letras Cubanas. La Habana, 2005.
Cuba. Customs and Traditions. (Chronicles). Editorial Prensa Latina, La Habana 2006.
Selected Theater (in two volumes) by Eugenio Hernández. Selection and prologue. Editorial Letras Cubanas. La Habana, 2006.
Resistance and Marronage. Theater of Gerardo Fulleda León. Selection and prologue. Ediciones Unión, La Habana, 2006.
Selected Theater (in one volume) by Eugenio Hernández. Selection and prologue. Editorial Letras Cubanas for the Alba collection. La Habana, 2008.
Bufo and Nation. Interpellations from the Present. (essays). Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 2008.
Over the Waves and other Stories/Sobre las olas y otros cuentos, Swanisle Press, University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Re-Crossing the Bridge. Anthology of Theater from El Puente Editions. Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 2011.
Afrocubanas. History, Thought and Cultural Practices. Compilation. Co-author with Daysi Rubiera Castillo, Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 2011.

At the time of her death, she was preparing a novel and a book of essays, finalist in the past Casa de las Américas Award.