I had the pleasure of attending the launch party for the "Cuban American Review" magazine last night. Held in Casa Bacardi (also known as the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies) the event featured several keynote speakers, complimentary Bacardi brand liquor, a fanciful spread of finger food, and a complimentary copy of the first edition of the magazine.

The Cuban American Review is unique in that it is literally a bilingual publication. It attempts to publish all of its articles in both English and Spanish. The idea behind this technique is that the Cuban and Cuban-American community here in the U.S. has struggled to bridge the gap between their native Spanish and the English language that is used here in their "new" country. The editors and creators of the Magazine decided to present both sides of each story, as it were, so that they could reach out to the community as a whole.

Editor in Chief, Dr. Lillian Bertot, was the first speaker to approach the podium. Assistant editor and co-founder, Alicia Rodriguez, followed her. Both of them basically just thanked everyone for coming and summarized the ideals of the magazine.

Next up was Dr. Raquel Marrero. She is a psychologist by trade, and contributed an article for the first edition. Her speech was a bit long winded, but she had an extremely interesting point to make relating to the cognitive effects of growing up in a bilingual setting. Dr. Marrero gave way to possibly the most entertaining portion of the evening. Professor and published poet, Ricardo Pau-Llosa, mesmerized the crowd with a series of crab (cangrejo) themed poems written in Spanish. His lyricism was quite impressive, especially when you consider that the bulk of his poetry is written in English! I had an opportunity to speak with Ricardo after the presentation. He seems like a powerfully creative man with a real love for art and humor. We hope to make his work a permanent fixture here at the Miami Poetry Review.

The final speaker, Nancy Perez-Crespo was extremely dynamic and possibly even a bit controversial. A renowned leader and proponent of the Cuban independent press (a bit of an oxymoron these days), Perez-Crespo hit hard with her "advice" to the founder of this new magazine. She implored them to not hold back in any way, even if the viewpoints expressed are not those of the popular or mainstream Cuban-American media. She warned that the very people that claim to be fighting for a free Cuba often share the same narrow minded and intolerant ways of the oppressors that they claim to fight against. She applauded the efforts of the Cuban American Review, highlighting the importance of presenting the same story to both the English and Spanish reader, and pointing out how at one time Havana published an all-English newspaper (The Havana Post) so that the English speaking Cuban population could stay informed.

Overall, I was highly impressed with the launch party for the Cuban American Review. It was filled with political and cultural vigor. Its keynote speakers shared a wealth of information and a sincere passion with the audience at hand. I'm looking forward to leafing through the pages of this magazine and hope to see it flourish as a legitimate journalistic vehicle for both the Spanish and English population here in South Florida.