What happens when the country you love for ces you out\, leaving you just 48 hours to abandon everything you&rsquo\;v e ever known? Author and essayist Ana Hebra Flaster discusses her sweeping yet deeply intimate memoir Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban B arrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town.
\nAna Hebra Flaster was six years old when her working-class family was kicked out of their Havana ba rrio for opposing communism. Once devoted revolutionaries themselves but d isillusioned by the Castro government&rsquo\;s repressive tactics\, they f led to the US. The permanent losses they suffered&mdash\;of home\, country \, and loved ones\, all within forty-eight hours&mdash\;haunted her multig enerational family as they reclaimed their lives and freedom in 1967 New H ampshire. There\, they fed each other stories of their scrappy barrio&mdas h\;some of which Hebra Flaster has shared on All Things Considered&mdash\;to resurrect their lost world and fortify themselves for a daunti ng task: building a new life in a foreign land.
\nWeaving pivotal ev ents in Cuba-US history with her viejos&rsquo\;&mdash\;elders&rsquo\;&mdas h\;stories of surviving political upheaval\, impossible choices\, and &ldq uo\;refugeedom\,&rdquo\; Property of the Revolution celebrates th e indomitable spirit and wisdom of the women warriors who led the family o ut of Cuba\, shaped its rebirth as Cuban Americans\, and helped Ana grow u p as a hopeful\, future-facing American. But what happens when deeply buri ed childhood memories resurface\, demanding an adult&rsquo\;s reckoning?\n
Ana Hebra Flaster \;is journalist and the author of \;P roperty of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Tow n\, published in April 2025 (She Writes Press\, Simon and Schuster di stribution). \;A former child-refugee from Cuba\, Ana&rsquo\;s work ha s appeared in national print and online media\, including: \;The N ew York Times\, \;The Wall Street Journal\, \;The Washington Post< /em>\, and \;The Boston Globe. Her commentaries and storytell ing have aired on NPR&rsquo\;s \;All Things Considered \; and PBS&rsquo\;s \;Stories from the Stage. Since its publicat ion in April 2025\, Property of the Revolution has won first plac e in several international writing contests\, including: 2026 IBPA Book Aw ards (Memoir)\; 2025 Discovery Book Awards (Nonfiction overall)\; 2025 Int ernational Book Awards (Creative Nonfiction)\, and the 2025 IAP Book Award s (Memoir of the Year). The memoir was selected as the Nashua\, New Hampsh ire\, 2026 All-City Read and the Rivier University 2025 First-Year Read. A na speaks regularly with student\, library\, and civic groups about her fa mily&rsquo\;s journey and the refugee and immigrant experience. She is cur rently focused on covering the struggle for democracy and human rights in Cuba in her weekly Substack\, \;CubaCurious\, \;a project she laun ched in July 2024.
\nhttps://neworleans.libnet.info/event/17537933 URL;VALUE=URI:https://neworleans.libnet.info/event/17537933 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR