Erick Mota
by Sampsonia Way / September 6, 2013 / No comments
Erick J. Mota (b. La Habana, 1975).
He has published the fiction books Bajo Presión (Gente Nueva, 2008), Algunos recuerdos que valen la pena (Abril, 2010), “La Habana Underguater” (Atom Press, 2010) and Ojos de cesio radiactivo (Red EDICIONES SL, 2012).
Erick Mota is a kind of chronicler of our thousand and one post-Fidel fossil futures. Entertaining, funny, relying on pure action, from which emanates, however, a sad reflection on the present of Cuba. Rather than sciences of anticipation, there is a secret philosophy in this way of understanding fiction.
Interview by Cristina Jurado Marcos
“We are so close to our reality that trees don´t allow us to see the forest. When we depart from a re-written story, and if we add elements of our actual reality, then we can reflect properly about our real lives. In science fiction, uchronias are the most effective way to make people think about themselves and the world around them.”
“Science fiction in Cuba has moved forward in terms of themes and style. When I speak about this, I like to think of it as an epic battle. We had a Glorious Age in the ´60s when our SF movement was born. The Golden Age came in the 80´s, and in the 90´s we had our Dark Ages. I believe that SF from the island has overcome many demons and still has many others to defeat. We detached from the dark side of the Soviet science fiction, a sort of pulp literature focused on morals and politics. It took many years for our publishing companies to accept stories with more optimistic and hopeful views about the future. In the first decade of this century, many short stories and novels -covering the most diverse and amazing themes- were published. We captured the attention of our publishing companies and, even if we are not in a competitive market, there is a progressive evolution on themes and style. We left behind the Socialist utopia and the UFOS, which is a great achievement.”
“In my opinion, for authors like the Cuban ones, who depend on a sole editing criteria for the island, self-publishing is the only solution to stay afloat.” Read More.
