Strangely, Friends
Book • 2025
Karen Dubinsky's Strangely, Friends explores the overlooked history of Cuban-Canadian encounters from the Cuban Revolution to the present, highlighting teachers, artists, aid workers, filmmakers, and activists.
The book foregrounds informal cultural diplomacy and people-to-people relationships that transcended official state relations, showing how music, education, and exchanges forged enduring bonds.
Dubinsky draws on interviews, archival research, and her own experience leading student exchanges to provide intimate portraits and case studies, such as CUSO volunteers and Cuban musicians in Canada.
She examines periods including the Special Period of the 1990s and profiles individuals like Harry Tanner to reveal diverse motivations for cross-border engagement.
The book argues that soft-power cultural ties have lasting significance even amid shifting geopolitics.
The book foregrounds informal cultural diplomacy and people-to-people relationships that transcended official state relations, showing how music, education, and exchanges forged enduring bonds.
Dubinsky draws on interviews, archival research, and her own experience leading student exchanges to provide intimate portraits and case studies, such as CUSO volunteers and Cuban musicians in Canada.
She examines periods including the Special Period of the 1990s and profiles individuals like Harry Tanner to reveal diverse motivations for cross-border engagement.
The book argues that soft-power cultural ties have lasting significance even amid shifting geopolitics.
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Katie Coldiron
Karen Dubinsky, "Strangely, Friends: A History of Cuban-Canadian Encounters" (Between the Lines, 2025)
Mentioned by ![undefined]()
Katie Coldiron
Karen Dubinsky, "Strangely, Friends: A History of Cuban-Canadian Encounters" (Between the Lines, 2025)
