Cubania Today: An Interview with Ana Veciana-Suarez
by Carmella Guiol
Ana Veciana-Suarez is the much-loved columnist for The Miami Herald and author of several books, including the YA novel Flight to Freedom, an essay collection entitled Birthday Parties in Heaven: Thoughts on Life, Love, Grief, and Other Matters of the Heart, and her acclaimed novel (and my personal favorite), The Chin Kiss King. Most of Veciana-Suarez's work focuses on themes of family and Latin-American culture. An alumnus of the University of South Florida, Ana was kind enough to grant Saw Palm this exclusive interview where she explores her connection to Cuba and the way that heritage has shaped her and her family.
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Carmella Guiol: You immigrated to the United States from Cuba with your family when you were six. Can you explain your connection to this country that you were taken from at such a young age? How has your connection to the island changed over the course of time?
Ana Veciana-Suarez: I have very few memories of Cuba and some of these I suspect have been supplemented by the photos my parents were able to smuggle out. Yet Cuba was always a part of growing up, especially in early childhood, because there was always talk about returning. Over time, however, Cuba has become one of those idyllic places that exist more in the imagination than in reality. I have no family there. Relatives live either in the U.S. or in Spain (the area of Catalonia), where my mother was born and where my father's family is also from. Miami -- and its brand of cubania -- is very definitely my home now. This is the city that has truly defined me.
CG: Much of your writing has been inspired by your Cuban heritage and your exile from the island; do you find inspiration from any Cuban writers or artists?
AV: I try to read as much as I can of other Cuban writers, but my focus (and interest) has more to do with the Cubanism as expressed in Miami. We have a new generation of young and very talented Cuban writers who I'm very interested in. They're my children's generation and I'm fascinated to read their take on many things.
CG: How have the Cuban exiles in South Florida maintained or lost their Cuban culture? What ways do you see the two cultures intersecting?
AV: Miami, as I mentioned earlier, has its own flavor of Cuban culture. It is not the only expression of such. (I'm thinking Tampa.) I think it is expressed in the music, the art and the food, very much so. But my generation of exiled children is primarily a hyphenated one. We have a little of both in us. Our children, to some extent, do, too, but it's more background than anything else. My big battle now is to make sure my granddaughters speak Spanish, as much for cultural as practical and business reasons.
I think the intersecting of cultures occurs more in intermarriages. I am married to an American Jew, which gives way to some interesting family traditions. Two of my children also married outside the culture, and there's a "mixing" of traditions as well.
CG: Do your children view themselves as Cuban or Floridian? How do you see the culture of cubanidad changing with each generation?
AV: My children see themselves as Miamians who are of Cuban descent. They're curious about the island and maybe will visit as tourists one day, but they don't see it as home. I think their attachment might be different if we had family there.
CG:Can you talk about the experience of leaving Miami to attend college in Tampa? Did you come into contact with the Cuban culture there, and if so, how was it different than what you were used to in Miami?
AV: For my parents it was a huge deal to leave home to go away for college. Children, especially girls, were not expected to leave the family home until they married. My parents' ideas changed over time, but it took a long while!
While in Tampa I didn't travel much outside the USF campus.
CG: Have you traveled back to Cuba? And if so, what was this experience like for you? Did you feel a likeness with the Cubans there or foreignness from this land you left long ago?
AV: I've never been back to Cuba.
CG: As the political climate between the United States and Cuba changes, how does this affect your relationship to the island? Does this make you more interested in visiting the island of your youth? Less interested?
AV: I don't think it makes me more or less interested, but it does make it more available if I want to visit. I have very few memories of it because I left so young, but of course I'm curious to see where my family lived.
_______
Carmella Guiol: You immigrated to the United States from Cuba with your family when you were six. Can you explain your connection to this country that you were taken from at such a young age? How has your connection to the island changed over the course of time?
Ana Veciana-Suarez: I have very few memories of Cuba and some of these I suspect have been supplemented by the photos my parents were able to smuggle out. Yet Cuba was always a part of growing up, especially in early childhood, because there was always talk about returning. Over time, however, Cuba has become one of those idyllic places that exist more in the imagination than in reality. I have no family there. Relatives live either in the U.S. or in Spain (the area of Catalonia), where my mother was born and where my father's family is also from. Miami -- and its brand of cubania -- is very definitely my home now. This is the city that has truly defined me.
CG: Much of your writing has been inspired by your Cuban heritage and your exile from the island; do you find inspiration from any Cuban writers or artists?
AV: I try to read as much as I can of other Cuban writers, but my focus (and interest) has more to do with the Cubanism as expressed in Miami. We have a new generation of young and very talented Cuban writers who I'm very interested in. They're my children's generation and I'm fascinated to read their take on many things.
CG: How have the Cuban exiles in South Florida maintained or lost their Cuban culture? What ways do you see the two cultures intersecting?
AV: Miami, as I mentioned earlier, has its own flavor of Cuban culture. It is not the only expression of such. (I'm thinking Tampa.) I think it is expressed in the music, the art and the food, very much so. But my generation of exiled children is primarily a hyphenated one. We have a little of both in us. Our children, to some extent, do, too, but it's more background than anything else. My big battle now is to make sure my granddaughters speak Spanish, as much for cultural as practical and business reasons.
I think the intersecting of cultures occurs more in intermarriages. I am married to an American Jew, which gives way to some interesting family traditions. Two of my children also married outside the culture, and there's a "mixing" of traditions as well.
CG: Do your children view themselves as Cuban or Floridian? How do you see the culture of cubanidad changing with each generation?
AV: My children see themselves as Miamians who are of Cuban descent. They're curious about the island and maybe will visit as tourists one day, but they don't see it as home. I think their attachment might be different if we had family there.
CG:Can you talk about the experience of leaving Miami to attend college in Tampa? Did you come into contact with the Cuban culture there, and if so, how was it different than what you were used to in Miami?
AV: For my parents it was a huge deal to leave home to go away for college. Children, especially girls, were not expected to leave the family home until they married. My parents' ideas changed over time, but it took a long while!
While in Tampa I didn't travel much outside the USF campus.
CG: Have you traveled back to Cuba? And if so, what was this experience like for you? Did you feel a likeness with the Cubans there or foreignness from this land you left long ago?
AV: I've never been back to Cuba.
CG: As the political climate between the United States and Cuba changes, how does this affect your relationship to the island? Does this make you more interested in visiting the island of your youth? Less interested?
AV: I don't think it makes me more or less interested, but it does make it more available if I want to visit. I have very few memories of it because I left so young, but of course I'm curious to see where my family lived.
