José Miguel Mejides Armas

He was a distinguished Cuban narrator who accumulated important works in short stories and novels. A graduate in History, considered a prominent figure in Cuban Culture. Author of significant titles in Cuban literature of the last half century.

He was born in Nuevitas, Camagüey. He completed his primary and secondary education in his native city. In 1966 he moved to Havana, where he completed his pre-university studies, which he finished in 1969.

That year he returned to Nuevitas and enrolled in the History Teaching program at the University of Camagüey, studies which he continued in the workers' course due to his incorporation into Mandatory Military Service, where he served for three years as a History professor at the Military School "Camilo Cienfuegos". In 1974, while working as a professor at the Peasant Worker Faculty Jesús Menéndez, he completed his university studies. He became affiliated with the Literary Workshop Rolando Escardó in Nuevitas.

Between 1977 and 1985, he served as Literary Advisor in the Culture Sector of Nuevitas. From 1978 he was a member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, of whose National Council he was a part starting in 1988.

In 1985 he returned to Havana and worked in the direction of dramatic programming for television until in 1988 he became Vice President of the Association of Writers of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC).

His first book, Tiempo de hombres, won the David Prize for short stories in 1977. From then on, he published other titles, with which he won important recognitions in Cuba and abroad.

Critics always highlighted the precision of his prose and the vigor of his characters. He was one of the best writers of his generation.

A first-rate short story writer, he published essential books of that genre in the Cuban literary landscape: El jardín de las flores silvestres (UNEAC prize 1981) and Rumba Palace (International Juan Rulfo Prize, from Radio France).

He also wrote novels: La habitación terrestre, Perversiones en el Prado and La saga del tigre (Italo Calvino Novel Prize).

His work as a narrator has been included in numerous anthologies and translated into several languages.

For his work in promoting cultural ties between Cuba and Italy, he received the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. A large part of his work is published in that country. Literary critics highlighted the precision of Mejides' prose, as well as the vigor of his characters, and he was considered one of the best writers of his generation.

Among his views on the role of the writer is one he expressed in an interview published in 2008: "The writer is always in the function of criticizing society, the writer is a critical essence within society as a whole. The writer is not someone who applauds easily, it's impossible, because life, and not only social circumstances, psychology, individualities, all of that, results in discourse and the writer doesn't write for anyone in particular, one writes as one can, not as one wants and I know my limitations. What I want is to tell stories".

He died in Havana on June 13, 2018 at age 68 from cancer.

Publications
He published his first short story in the newspaper Adelante in 1975.
Short story Fiesta
Short story Lluvia
Stories of love (1979)
Stories of the sea (1981)
That character called death (1983)
Stories of remote novelty (1983)
Stories of violence (1983)
Telling fifteen years (1987)

National and international collaborations
He contributed to national and foreign publications such as La Gaceta de Cuba, Unión, Casa de las Américas, Bohemia, Revista Revolución y Cultura, Letras Cubanas, Oriente (Santiago de Cuba), Plural, El Gallo Ilustrado, El Cuento (México), El Nacional (Venezuela) and in magazines from Argentina, Uruguay, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

He offered readings and lectures on Cuban literature in Ethiopia, Syria, Cyprus, Kuwait, Spain, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Czechoslovakia, Venezuela and Mexico.

His work was translated into different languages such as English, German, Russian, Czech and Portuguese.

Active Bibliography
Tiempo de hombres, short story, 76 pp, 1978.
La habitación terrestre, novel, 352 pp, 1982.
El jardín de las flores silvestres, short story, 160 pp, 1982.
Mi prima Amada, short story, 7 pp, 1988.
Rumba Palace, short story, 1996.
Perversiones en el prado

Passive Bibliography
Cámara, Madeline: "Young novelists respond", Revolución y Cultura, 30-37 pp, October, 1988.
González López, Waldo: "Miguel Mejides. La habitación terrestre", Universidad de la Habana, 199-200 pp, September.

Recognitions
He received various awards and distinctions among which the following stand out:

Short story prize in the David competition (1977) with Tiempo de hombres.
National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (1981) with El jardín de las flores silvestres.