A list of Cuban writers, including novelists, poets, and critics: Cuban authors and writers have influenced and shaped the history of the world. Throughout the years many of their contributions have caused radical shifts: from social movements to global perspectives in the Americas and beyond.
A
Brígida Agüero (1837–1866), poet
Mirta Aguirre (1912–1980), poet, novelist, and journalist
Magaly Alabau (born 1945), poet
Dora Alonso (1910–2001), author and journalist
Reinaldo Arenas (1943–1990), openly gay poet, novelist, and playwright, author of Before Night Falls ()
B
Agustín Blazquez (1944-2022), writer, born in Cadenas Cuba, active in United States, Artist, videographer and known for his original ancient Egyptian Art Joaquín Badajoz (born 1972), poet and writer Gastón Baquero (1916–1997), poet and writer Miguel Barnet, anthropologist and testimonialist Antonio Benítez-Rojo (1931–2005), author and critic Pedro Luis Boitel (1931–1972), poet and dissident Mariano Brull (1891–1956), postmodern poet
C
Lydia Cabrera (1899–1991), anthropologist and poet
Guillermo Cabrera Infante (1929–2005), novelist, author of Tres tristes tigres, Cervantes Prize winner Onelio Jorge Cardoso (1914–1986), screenwriter and short fiction writer Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980), novelist, author of El reino de este mundo, Cervantes Prize winner Julián del Casal, 19th-century poet Fidel Castro (1926–2016), former President of Cuba Daniel Chavarria, Uruguyan-born author Daína Chaviano, novelist and short-story writer Enrique Cirules (1938–2016), novelist and essayist Domitila García de Coronado (1847–1938), writer, journalist, editor, professor
D
Edmundo Desnoes, novelist, author of Memorias del Subdesarrollo
Jesús Díaz (1941–2002), novelist, filmmaker, and intellectual, founder of the influential cultural magazine Encuentro
E
Darío Espina Pérez (October 25, 1920–September 6, 1996), writer, founder and president of La Academia Poética de Miami
F
Samuel Feijóo (1914–1992), author
Roberto Fernández Retamar (1930–2019), poet, essayist, and literary critic
Norberto Fuentes (born 1943), author and journalist
G
Michael John Garcés (born 1967), playwright and director. Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda (1814–1873), novelist, playwright, and poet, author of Sab (1842) and Baltasar (1858) Justo González (born 1937), author and historian Jorge Enrique González Pacheco (born 1969), poet and cultural entrepreneur Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989), Afro-Cuban poet Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (born 1950) "dirty realist" novelist, poet, and painter
H
José María Heredia y Heredia (1803–1839), poet
Georgina Herrera (1936–2021), poet
L
Carilda Oliver Labra (1922–2018), poet
José Lezama Lima (1910–1976), novelist and poet, author of Paradiso
Eduardo del Llano (born 1962)
M
Jorge Mañach (1898–1961), writer
Juan Francisco Manzano (1797–1854), author and poet
Dulce María Loynaz (1902–1997), poet, Cervantes Prize winner
José Martí (1853–1895), poet, journalist, critic, translator, and patriot
Calixto Martínez, journalist and political prisoner
Rubén Martínez Villena, writer
Domingo del Monte (1804–1853), author and literary critic
Nancy Morejón (born 1944), Afro-Cuban poet
Dolan Mor (born 1968) Manuel Maria Mustelier (1878–1941), writer and teacher
O
Fernando Ortiz (1881–1969), author and essayist
Lisandro Otero (1932–2008), novelist and journalist
P
Heberto Padilla (1932–2000), poet
Leonardo Padura Fuentes (born 1955), novelist and journalist
Ricardo Pau-Llosa (born 1954), poet
Regino Pedroso (1896–1983), poet
Gustavo Pérez Firmat (born 1949), poet, memoirist, literary critic
Virgilio Piñera (1912–1979), author, playwright, poet, short-story writer and essayist Carlos Pintado (born 1974), poet
R
Félix Ramos y Duarte (1848–1924), educator, textbook writer and lexicographer
José Ignacio Rivero (1920–2011), exile journalist
Raúl Rivero (1945–2021), dissident poet and journalist
Antonio Rodríguez Salvador (born 1960), poet, fiction writer, dramatist and essayist Isel Rivero (born in 1941 in Havana, Cuba.) poet in exile 1963,