Gladys Zaldívar

Gladys Zaldivar, cuban writer and essayist was born in 1936 in Camaguey, Cuba and died in Miami, Florida in October 2008. In 1960 won the "Ruben Martinez Villena" award given by the Union Nacional de Escritores y Artistas Cubanos (UNIAC) to relevant literary figures. A staunch opponent of the Communist regime in Cuba, Dr. Zaldivar went into exile in 1968 in the United States where she earned a degree in Spanish Literature from the University of Maryland and was Professor Emeritus at Western Maryland College. She moved to Miami, Florida in 1975 where she taught always encouraging her students with her passion for teaching. Her works are very extensive, one of her best known books, Epitafios, recollects her close relationship with Severo Sardy, another well known cuban writer . After her retirement she continued her involvement in literary events; she made her last presentation during the Congreso de Cultura Panamerican in Miami the summer before her death.