Oval Portrait

The Oval Portrait was originally published as El retrato ovalado(Ediciones Union, Havana, Cuba, 2015). Editor Soleida Ríos seta difficult task for herself and nearly three dozen other Cubanwomen writers, artists, and thinkers. She asked each to 'choose amask. With it she spins her story so that her own image appearsin the story as well as the connection (always mysterious) andthe symbol with which she has chosen to represent herself.' Theresult, beyond being a postmodernist tour de force, was 'a perfectvehicle for introspection.' As Ríos herself puts it: 'The gamerequires us to go deep.... Shall we say: Rather than a portrait,construct a mirror, through which you may touch the difficultand shared places. And then, at the end, ask yourself the question:Which are your favorite lies?' By way of example, JamilaMedina Ríos writes in her piece: 'I know (I have learned it well)the fate of my grandmother and her aunts, the fate of Maria andmy mother, the blossoms of mythical women and women poets,of female warriors, of weak women and of the famous. My headshaved so as not to intimidate her with my abundant hair.' TheOval Portrait has been exquisitely translated into English byMargaret Randall. As she writes: 'In an era of special interestmedia and superficial travelogues, I believe The Oval Portrait offersreaders a uniquely profound glimpse of the Cuban psyche.'