Pedro Juan Gutiérrez

Pedro Juan Gutiérrez born in 1950 (Matanzas, Cuba) and he was a journalist. He began to work with eleven years old, like a vendor of ice-creams and newspapers. He was a soldier, swimming and kayak instructor, agricultural worker, technician in construction, technical designer, radiostation speaker and journalist for 26 years.

He shares literature with painting and sculpture. Gutiérrez is author of several poetry books, and author of Dirty Havana trilogy, The king of Havana, Tropical Animal (winner of the Spanish prize Alfonso García- -Ramos 2000), The insatiable spiderman, Dog meat (winner of the Italian prize Narrativa Sur del Mundo), The snake nest (winner of the Prix des Amériques insulaires et de la Guyane 2008), Our GG in Havana, Pobre diablo and the short stories book, Melancholy of the lions. Named master of dirty realism, Gutiérrez lives in Havana and depicts life in the shady alleys of his city with his unadorned style.

With Trilogía sucia de la Habana (Dirty Havana trilogy), Gutiérrez began his narrative series about Havana (Central Havana Cycle). He concluded this series with a fifth book: Carne de perro, in which he crudely describes life on the margins of society in the Cuban capital. His use of dirty realism has led some critics to call him the “Caribbean Bukowski”.

Books in English