Words At Large

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Fifty years after it happened, Castro’s Revolution still divides Cubans in their homeland and abroad. It had a major effect on Cristina García’s family, separating relatives both geographically and emotionally.

García was born in Havana to a Guatemalan father and Cuban mother. In 1961, when she was two years old, her family was among the first wave of people to flee Cuba after Fidel Castro came to power. They settled in New York City, where she was raised.

With her first novel, Dreaming in Cuban (Ballantine Books), she became one of the most significant Cuban-American voices in the U.S. The book was critically acclaimed and was a finalist for the National Book Award.

García’s writing often looks at the personal, political and familial complexities of living in a multicultural America. In one of her latest books, A Handbook to Luck (Vintage), Garcia weaves together the lives of three teenagers who make their way in the world in the late 1960s. The lives of the characters intersect as they grapple with fate and chance.

Eleanor Wachtel spoke to Christina Garcia from Santa Monica.

First aired March 15, 2009, on Writers & Company. [runs 50:53]

Writers & Company airs on Thursdays at 11:00 p.m. (11:30 in Newfoundland) and on Sunday afternoons (times vary across the country). You can also listen to the show as a podcast.