Lea Aschkenas

Lea Aschkenas is the author of the memoir Es Cuba: Life and Love on an Illegal Island (Seal Press/Hachette) and the children’s book Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle (Star Bright Books). She lived in Cuba in 2000 and has returned regularly ever since. Most recently, Lea traveled to Cuba with CODEPINK as part of the Nuestra América Convoy, where she witnessed firsthand the impact of US sanctions and the blockade on everyday life. She lives in Northern California, where she works as a public librarian and a poet-teacher with the California Poets in the Schools program.