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My Mother in Havana

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A daughter's search for her deceased mother brings her face to face with the gods & ghosts & saints of Cuba

​Writing with a physicality of language that moves like the body in dance, Rebe Huntman, a poet, choreographer, and dancer, embarks on a pilgrimage into the mysteries of the gods and saints of Cuba and their larger spiritual view of the Mother. Huntman offers a window into the extraordinary world of Afro-Cuban gods and ghosts and the dances and rituals that call them forth. As she explores the memory of her own mother, interlacing it with her search for the sacred feminine, Huntman leads us into a world of séance and sacrifice, pilgrimage and sacred dance, which resurrect her mother and bring Huntman face to face with a larger version of herself.

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Praise for My Mother in Havana

"My Mother in Havana lifts the veil between the living and the dead and makes believers of us all...This is a stunning debut."  

~ Lee Martin, author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Bright Forever

Order My Mother in Havana wherever you buy your books

My Mother in Havana

Book Club Discussion & Reader's Guide

My name is Alexa Young

Questions to mull over alone or with a group; suggestions for summoning the spirits; Cuban cocktail/mocktail recipes & more!

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Join me on the My Mother in Havana book launch tour 🧭
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Check out my events page for all the stops; I can’t think of anything more celebratory than looking out into the audience and seeing your face!

Listen to the Playlist

Select Reviews & Media

​Kirkus Reviews

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​Poets & Writers: Interview, Ten Questions Series

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CRAFT Literary: Review/Interview

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Paste Magazine: The Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books & Memoirs of 2025

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Electric Lit: 11 Small Press Books You Should Be Reading

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Creatively ADHD: My Mother in Havana/ A memoir about the intersection of grief, creativity, & spirituality

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Los Angeles Times: How Cuban culture filled a void after 30 years of longing

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New World Writing Quarterly: Deities, Dance & Devotion​

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Feminism & Religion: When I Say that I Miss My Mother (30 years after her death),

What Precisely Am I Missing?

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The Memoir Land Author Questionnaire

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Writers Digest: Writing as Arquitecture: Notes on Building vs. Writing Your Memoir

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vol. 1 Brooklyn: Rebe Huntman on Memory, Pilgrimages, and Creation

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Artburst Miami: A Midwest Woman’s Quest For Her Mother’s Spirit In Havana

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Grief and a Cuban Beat

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Women Writers, Women's Books: Writing the Woven Memoir

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Motherhood, Literature & Art: Review

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​Book Q & A with Deborah Kalb

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Hasty Book List Interview

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Lit Hub: Bridges to a Misunderstood World: Seven Memoirs That Show the Many Sides of Cuba

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​Bookish Beck: Most Anticipated Books of the First Half of 2025​

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Shelf Awareness: Reading with... Rebe Huntman

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The Best Books About Women, Magic, & Spirituality: published in Shepherd

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Cleaver: Pilgrimage, Healing & Self-Discovery: A Conversation with Rebe Huntman & Karla Cordero

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​Third Coast Review

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Good River Review

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What is That Book About

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Vol.1 Brooklyn

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Delaware Gazette

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Large Hearted Boy: My Mother in Havana Playlist

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EXCERPTS

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The Spirit Speaks: My Mother in Havana excerpt published in Braided Way

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El Secreto de Ochún excerpt published in Writer's Chronicle

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City of Gods: My Mother in Havana excerpt published in Parabola

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PODCASTS & RADIO

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How Mothers Shape Our Story: A Conversation with Rebe Huntman

 

Creative Genius: The Call of Creativity, Intuition, and Ancestry with Rebe Huntman

 

​Rewrite the Mother Code: Motherhood, Memory, and Spirituality: A Conversation with Rebe Huntman

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Soul of Travel: On the Pull Pilgrimage, Weaving Stories & Finding the Sacred Feminine

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Home to Her: Seeking the Spiritual Mother with Rebe Huntman

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Grief & Rebirth: My Mother Died & Decades Later, Cuba Brought Her Back to Me

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Artists for Joy: Creating through Grief

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Let's Talk Memoir: Losing Mothers & Finding Them Again Through Memoir

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Psychology of Pilgrimage with Rebe Huntman

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Becoming Your Best Version: A Conversation with Rebe Huntman

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Dancing Between Worlds: A Memoir of Magic in Havana with Author Rebe Huntman

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How Culture Influences Memoir with Rebe Huntman

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Wild Precious Life: My Mother in Havana with Rebe Huntman

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Coffee, Grief & Gratitude with Rebe Huntman

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The Curious Man Podcast: Interview with Rebe Huntman

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Writing Stories: "Are You All In?" — Rebe Huntman tells the story of My Mother in Havana

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Off the Shelf with Delaware Library

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VIDEO

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How Mothers Shape Our Story: A Conversation with Rebe Huntman

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Poets & Writers/Left Bank Books

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Home to Her: Seeking the Spiritual Mother with Rebe Huntman

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Creative Genius: The Call of Creativity, Intuition, & Ancestry with Rebe Huntman

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A Measure of Passion: Interview with Rebe Huntman

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AWARDS

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American Book Fest's Best Book Awards Finalist, Autobiography/Memoir

​Am

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Images from Cuba (Scroll to See Our Lady of Charity, Ochún, & More 

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Rebe Huntman

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