María Josefina de Diego García Marruz

A writer from Havana, daughter of Cuban poet, narrator, and essayist Eliseo Diego. Poet, narrator, essayist, translator. Her work is directed fundamentally toward children and young adults and is characterized by impeccable craftsmanship, where fantasy and imagination intermingle.

She is also an author of literature for adults with interesting and diverse cultural themes. Her work as a translator is equally noteworthy.

She graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Havana in the 1971-1976 academic year. Between 1969 and 1971, at that institution, she studied, although did not complete, a degree in English Language and English and North American Literature.

In 1993, Ediciones del Equilibrista published her book of childhood memories, El reino del abuelo. Her poems and stories have appeared in magazines in Cuba and abroad.

She has written books of narrative poetry such as: Un gato siberian husky (Editorial Gente Nueva, 2007); Rimas y divertimentos (Editorial Gente Nueva, 2008), and Como un duende en mi jardín (Editorial Gente Nueva, 2009/Fundación Editorial El perro y la rana, Venezuela, 2009).

Her stories, poems, essays, and articles have been anthologized, among other titles, in Estatuas de sal: cuentistas cubanas contemporáneas (Ediciones Unión, 1996) and Marketing a Scene. Cuban Women's Stories (Mango Publishing, 2004). Her texts have also appeared in periodicals from Mexico, Argentina, the United States, and Cuba.

The ten-line poems that make up the book Un gato siberian husky were set to music and performed by Cuban creators on the album Décimas del gato Simón (BIS Music, Havana, 2007). This recording was nominated for Cubadisco 2007 among the five best albums for children.

Translations
She has translated works by, among others, Stephen E. Ambrose, Patrick Wright, James Thurber, Donald Kagan, Richard Pipes, Achy Obejas, and C.S. Lewis, published in Mexico, Spain, and Cuba.

Awards and Recognition
She has received various awards and recognition, among which the following stand out:

Prize from Literary Criticism for Un gato siberian husky (Editorial Gente Nueva, 2007), in 2007.
Palma Real Literary Prize, awarded by the Asociación Casa de la Cultura Cubana, of Turin (Italy) and the Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC), in 2004.

Current Occupation
She has worked for years on organizing and publishing the work of her father, poet, narrator, and essayist Eliseo Diego. She has compiled and/or written prologues for, among other volumes, En otro reino frágil (Ediciones Unión, 1999), Obra poética (Editorial Letras Cubanas, 2005), Conversación con los difuntos (Editorial Letras Cubanas, 2007), Un hondo bosque de sueños (Ediciones Unión, 2008), and Un rumor apenas (Ediciones Extramuros, 2019).