Heberto padilla biography of william hill

Heberto Padilla (b. 20 January 1932; d. 20 September 2000); one of the greatest Cuban poets and novelists. Padilla was born in Puerta de Golpe in the province of Pinar del Río.

He was supportive of the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and enjoyed a favorable position among the cultural elite of his country until 1968, when he won first prize in the prestigious literary contest of the Cuban Writers and Artists Union (UNEAC) for his book of poems Fuera del juego (1969).

This book, which brought him immediate national and international acclaim as a poet, also made him an object of intense political controversy. Published with a prologue decrying the "counterrevolutionary" nature of some of the poems, the book provoked what came to be known as El Caso Padilla, or the Padilla affair, now seen as a turning point in relations between the Cuban government and intellectuals, Cuban or otherwise.

In 1971, Padilla was arrested, tortured, and forced to retract his st