Margarita MATEO PALMER (critic, essayist, novelist; Cuba) has her extensive critical work collected in seven volumes of essays; she is also the author of the novel Desde los blancos manicomios (2008). Her writing on Caribbean literatures has earned her fellowships at Harvard and Tulane, six iterations of Premio Nacional de la Crítica, and many other literary awards. Mateo Palmer is a member of the Cuban Academy of Language. Her participation is made possible by the U.S. Embassy in Havana and the Ludwig Foundation.