The Spanish-American war of 1898 ended Spain’s four hundred year rule of Cuba. Cuba became a U.S. protectorate and decades of instability followed, culminating in Batista’s military dictatorship. The 1959 Cuban Revolution is one of the great underdog stories in history, in which a tiny band of young rebels prevailed against all odds. This nationalist revolution quickly fell under the sway of the USSR and Cuba’s previously close ties with the U.S. were abruptly severed.
This illustrated presentation by novelist and lecturer Tim Weed, a long-time observer of the island, will highlight recent changes in light of Cuba’s long struggle for sovereignty.
About the Speaker
A native Vermonter and current resident of Putney, Tim Weed is an award-winning novelist and lecturer.
His short fiction collection, A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing, was shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize, and his first novel, Will Poole’s Island, was named to Bank Street College of Education’s list of the Best Books of the Year. Tim is on the core faculty of the Newport MFA in Creative Writing, is co-founder of the Cuba Writers Program, and has lived and worked in more than twenty-five countries on every continent except Antarctica.
