The Oval Portrait

The Oval Portrait was originally published as El retrato ovalado


(Ediciones Union, Havana, Cuba, 2015). Editor Soleida Ríos set


a difficult task for herself and nearly three dozen other Cuban


women writers, artists, and thinkers. She asked each to "choose a


mask. With it she spins her story so that her own image appears


in the story as well as the connection (always mysterious) and


the symbol with which she has chosen to represent herself." The


result, beyond being a postmodernist tour de force, was "a perfect


vehicle for introspection." As Ríos herself puts it: "The game


requires us to go deep.... Shall we say: Rather than a portrait,


construct a mirror, through which you may touch the difficult


and shared places. And then, at the end, ask yourself the question:


Which are your favorite lies?" By way of example, Jamila


Medina Ríos writes in her piece: "I know (I have learned it well)


the fate of my grandmother and her aunts, the fate of Maria and


my mother, the blossoms of mythical women and women poets,


of female warriors, of weak women and of the famous. My head


shaved so as not to intimidate her with my abundant hair." The


Oval Portrait has been exquisitely translated into English by


Margaret Randall. As she writes: "In an era of special interest


media and superficial travelogues, I believe The Oval Portrait offers


readers a uniquely profound glimpse of the Cuban psyche."