According to the website www.cubadebate.cu, the most famous work of this
author, who was born in Havana, in 1955, is his tetralogy ‘Cuatro
Estaciones’ (Four Seasons), which has been translated into 17 languages.

His latest novel ‘El hombre que amaba a los perros’ (The Man Who Loved
Dogs), published in Cuba by the Union publishing house and published in
France this year, earned him the Cuban 2011 Literary Critic Award.

In this volume, he gets into the story of the murder of Leon Trotsky
––born in Ukraine in 1879 and exiled in Mexico, where he was killed on
August 21, 1940, by Spanish Ramon Mercader–– from the view of a Cuban vet
living in Havana in the 21st century.

Padura said that although this book deals with Russia, Turkey, Norway, the
United States, Mexico, and Cuba, it was written from the Cuban
perspective, from his vision as a Cuban.

He made himself known in Europe by the end of the 1990s when he was
presented with the Dashiell Hammett Award by the International Association
of Crime Writers for his novel ‘Paisajes de Otoño’, which is part of the
abovementioned tetralogy.

This author has also written several scripts for cinematographic
documentaries like ‘Yo soy del son a la salsa’, a piece awarded with a
Coral Prize at the 18th International Festival of New Latin American
Cinema of Havana.

In addition, Padura contributed to the elaboration of the script of a
full-length film by Puerto Rican director Benicio del Toro, ‘Siete dias en
la Habana’ (Seven Days in Havana), along with writer Eliseo Antunaga, and
screenwriter and director Arturo Infante, which will be screened during
the 33rd International Festival of New Latin American Cinema of Havana in
December.

This writer has received numerous recognitions such as a UNEAC Award in
1993, a Cafe Gijon in 1995, and a Black Novel International Award in 1998.

The Roger Caillois French Literary Prize on Latin American Literature was
created in 1991 and has also been awarded to figures such as Carlos
Fuentes, Jose Donoso, and Adolfo Bioy Casares.

Caillois, (France 1913-1978) was in charge of ‘La cruz del sur’ literature
collection in the Gallimard publishing house and contributed to the
spreading of Hispano-American Literature in France.