LEONARDO PADURA RECEIVES CUBA PRIZE FOR NOVEL ABOUT LEON TROTSKY

Leonardo Padura, Cuba's most internationally known author received the 2011 Literary Critics Award in Cuba. He won for his book, "The Man Who Loved Dogs" which recounts the exile and assassination of Leon Trotsky. Padura spent years researching Ramon Mercader for his book. The award goes to the most important title by living authors. Originally published in Spain many believed it would never be published in Cuba. Last year it was published by the Union Of Writers And Artists Of Cuba. When speaking at the Havana Book Fair he said he wanted to address long held myths. For a number of years books by Trotsky have been popular at the book fair. Many believe that when Che Guevara was assassinated he had a copy of Trotsky's, "History Of The Russian Revolution" in his backpack. Whether that is true or not one would think "Permanent Revolution" would have been a better choice.