Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡiˈʝeɾmo kaˈβɾeɾa iɱˈfante]; born in Gibara on April 22, 1929, and died on February 21, 2005) was a Cuban writer, translator, screenwriter, and critic. In the 1950s, he used the name G. Caín, and later used the name Guillermo Cain for the screenplay of the well-known film Vanishing Point (1971).

Initially, he supported the political ideas of Fidel Castro but left Cuba in 1965 and moved to London. He is most famous for his novel Tres tristes tigres (translated as Three Trapped Tigers in English), which has been praised as being similar to James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Biography

He was born in Gibara, Cuba, in the former Oriente Province (now part of Holguín Province) in 1941. That year, he moved with his parents to Havana, where he spent most of his life and where he wrote nearly all of his stories, except for his critical works. His parents were early members of the Cuban Communist Party.

At first, he wanted to become a doctor, but he later chose to write and work in the film industry. Starting in 1950, he studied journalism at the University of Havana. During the Batista government, he was arrested and fined in 1952 for publishing a short story that included English-language swear words. His opposition to Batista later led to a short time in jail.

He married for the first time in 1953. From 1954 to 1960, he wrote film reviews for the magazine Carteles using the false name G. Caín. He became the editor in chief of the magazine in 1957, still using the same false name. After the Cuban Revolution in 1959, he was named director of the Instituto del Cine. He also led the literary magazine Lunes de Revolución, which was part of the Communist newspaper Revolución. However, this magazine was banned in 1961 by Fidel Castro.

He divorced in 1961 and married his second wife, Miriam Gomez, an actress, the same year. He fell out of favor with the Castro government after his brother’s documentary about Havana nightlife was banned, which led to his being prevented from publishing in Cuba. From 1962 to 1965, he worked as a cultural attaché in Brussels, Belgium. During this time, he became critical of the Castro regime. After returning to Cuba for his mother’s funeral in 1965, he left the country and lived first in Madrid, Spain, then in London, England.

In 1966, he published Tres tristes tigres, an experimental novel inspired by the style of Mark Twain. It aimed to capture the many ways people spoke in Cuban Spanish. The book won the 1964 Premio Biblioteca Breve for best unpublished novel.

He co-wrote the script for the 1971 film Vanishing Point using the false name Guillermo Caín.

Although he is considered part of the Latin American Boom generation of writers, which includes Gabriel García Márquez, he refused to accept that label. He also refused to call his most famous works, like Tres tristes tigres and La Habana para un infante difunto, "novels." His work influenced writers such as Luis Rafael Sánchez and Fernando Velázquez Medina.

In 1997, he received the Premio Cervantes, awarded by King Juan Carlos of Spain. He died on February 21, 2005, in London, from sepsis. He had two daughters from his first marriage.