National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba
Social, cultural and professional organization
The National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, UNEAC) is a social, cultural and professional organization of writers, musicians, actors, painters, sculptors, and artists of different genres that are Cuban or have strong ties to Cuba.
Since its inception, UNEAC has gathered renowned artists from all areas of the arts, including Alejo Carpentier, José Lezama Lima, René Portocarrero, and Rogelio Martínez Furé.
History
It was founded on August 22, 1961, by the Cuban poet, Nicolas Guillen. Initially their objective was uniting the intellectuals within the young Cuban Revolution to maintain a genuine Cuban culture.
Beginning in 1962, the group issued La Gaceta de Cuba, with six annual issues that covered themes in literature, visual art, theater, film, and music.
Cuban violinist and professor Evelio Tieles was President of the Music Section from 1977 to 1984.
Manuel Vázquez Portal was expelled from UNEAC because of his dissident views.
Caracol Contest and Prize
Since 1978, UNEAC has run the annual Caracol Contest, which presents awards in the categories of film, radio, television, and criticism or essay, to creators and artists in Cuban radio or audiovisial media. It is one of the oldest media competitions in Cuba.
The public source identifies “National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba” as social, cultural and professional organization. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around National, Union and Writers.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q847170. VIAF identifies the subject as 146276623. The Library of Congress control number is n81022330. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1961, 1962, 1977 and 1984.
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This entry incorporates text from “National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.