 | Carlos Eire |
"It doesn't get any better than this," said Carlos Eire, the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies, a few days after winning this year's National Book Award for non-fiction for his memoir, "Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy" (Free Press/Simon & Schuster Inc., 2003).
The prize was announced at a black-tie dinner on Nov. 19 in New York City.
Eire said he was still in "a state of shock" over the announcement and the attention he's received since then.
"How ironic and wonderful it is to be honored for a book that would have landed me in prison if I had written it in Cuba," he said. "What disturbs me the most is that there are many people around the world who think Castro has created a socialist paradise. In reality, he's no better than Pinochet. He rules by brute force. The whole island is a hot gulag."
An authority on the intellectual and cultural history of late medieval and early modern Europe, Eire is author of two scholarly works, "War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship From Erasmus to Calvin" (1986) and "From Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth Century Spain" (1995). He is also co-author of a textbook, "Jews, Christians, Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions" (1997). Eire earned his Ph.D. in history from Yale in 1979 and has been a faculty member here since 1996.
"Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy" vividly describes Eire's life in Cuba in the midst of an upper-middle class, cultured and eccentric family, and shows how all that changed when Fidel Castro rose to power. In 1962, at the age of 11, Eire and his brother were among 14,000 children airlifted off the island without their parents. In chronicling life before and after his arrival in America, Eire expands his personal story into a meditation on loss and suffering, redemption and rebirth.
Publishers Weekly said of the book: "As imaginatively wrought as the finest piece of fiction, the book abounds with magical interpretations of ordinary childhood events. ... Taking his cue from his father, a man with 'a very fertile, nearly inexhaustible imagination totally dedicated to inventing past lives,' Eire looks beyond the literal to see the mythological themes inherent in the epic struggle for identity that each of our lives represents."
The National Book Awards are sponsored by the National Book Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes literacy and reading.
"The National Book Award is one of the most prestigious literary awards offered in the United States, and the Department of History and Yale University take enormous pride in the achievement and recognition attained by and conferred on one of their finest colleagues and citizens," said department chair Jon Butler, the William Robertson Coe Professor of American Studies and History.
In his acceptance speech, Eire dedicated his award to the Cuban political prisoners who are locked away in jails. "Their crime: writing," he said, expressing his wish that "they be able to speak freely once and for all."
T H I S
Eire autobiography wins National Book Award
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Groundbreakings celebrate construction of new chemistry andengineering buildingsFacility will support state-of-the-art research . . .
Building will house new Department of Biomedical Engineering
Eire autobiography wins National Book Award
Dyslexia has been hurdle for scientist and 'Ironman' competitor
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPSDiMaio is appointed as Von Zedtwitz Professor of Genetics
Hebert designated as C.N.H. Long Professor of Physiology
Somlo named as C.N.H. Long Professor in Internal Medicine
In Focus: Center for Faith and Culture
Center aims to ease patients' anxiety about breast cancer
Noël Valis' book awarded Modern Language Association prize
Journalist reports greater willingness to talk openly in China
City students to study Shakespeare in new Yale Rep program
Drama School to stage Wilder's play about 'First Family'
Human evolution preserved in 'pseudogenes,' say scientists
Study: Mother's anti-depressant doesn't affect her nursing baby
Study shows spiritual belief and prayer can aid high-risk youth
The Fine Art of Shopping
'Sacred spaces' on campus featured in new calendar
Alternative Gift Market allows shoppers to help the world's poor
Pepper Center awards will support research related to aging process
Scientists to refine literacy game with support from grant
Dr. Barry Kacinski dies; renowned for work in field of DNA repair
Leon Clark dies; his work enhanced understanding of other cultures
Yale Books in Brief
Campus Notes
Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News
Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines
Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases|
E-Mail Us|Yale Home