I recently published two article inspired by my trip to Cuba a few months ago and I wanted to share them. The first is suggestions for how one might spend two days in Havana for Paste, and the second, in Punch, is focused on an innovative nightclub and culture center, Fabrica de Arte Cubano, that I visited on my final night in the city. In such short pieces, and for disparate audiences, it is hard to capture the “real” Cuba that so many journalists and storytellers are seeking to write about, even as both are, of course, accurate and true.
Friend and journalist Julie Schwietert Collazo along with Havana-based Conner Gorry have spoken and written on how to report on Cuba responsibly, and I strive to have their recommendations in mind when I do. Challenges arise when faced with a publication that shies away from including political context, or pieces that are meant to fit into a specific format, or any number of issues inherent in journalism, or in writing about places and people with a perceived narrative that is at odds with the reality.
While these pieces reflect just a small slice of my experience in Havana, I hope I have done the city and its lovely people justice, and I look forward to sharing more in the future.
Locavore in the City 