Yoss in America: A Cuban SciFi Author at Large

One of the most decorated, prolific, and controversial science fiction writers in Cuba, Yoss (a.k.a. José Miguel Sánchez Gómez) presents his novel A Planet for Rent (Se alquila un planeta), which critiques '90s Cuba by drawing parallels with a possible Earth in the not-so-distant future. Wracked by economic and environmental problems, the desperate planet is rescued, for better or worse, by alien colonizers, who remake the planet as a tourist destination. Ruled over by a brutal interstellar bureaucracy, dispossessed humans seek better lives via the few routes available — working for the colonial police; eking out a living as black marketeers, drug dealers, or artists; prostituting themselves to exploitative extraterrestrial visitors — or they face the cold void of space in rickety illegal ships. This week is Yoss' first visit to he United States, during which he'll be making a four-city tour of the country. He will be reading at Singularity & Co. in Brooklyn, Amherst College in Amherst, MA, where he'll be in conversation with Restless Books publisher Ilan Stavans, Interstellar Overdrive Books in Seattle, WA, Lovecraft Bar in Portland, OR, and 57th Street Books in Chicago, IL. We'll be updating this blog page regularly with photos and news about Yoss' adventures across the U.S.!