In 1997 a light was turned on in Holguín. The editorial seal of the Hermanos Saíz Association was born in the northeastern territory, with the promise of promoting young Cuban literature. Almost 25 years later, Ediciones La Luz does not stop creating, discovering and encouraging new authors who are emerging in the Cuban literary scene.

Directed since 2003 by the poet Luis Yuseff, the Holguin publishing house has published titles of all genres and of such important writers in contemporary literature as José Luis Serrano, Sergio García Zamora, Abel Prieto, María Liliana Celorrio, Rubén Rodríguez, Mariela Varona, Yunier Riquenes and María Elena Llana, among many others. The youngest recognize it as "the place where it is so good", so it is not by chance that they chose it for the birth of their first works.

La Luz is a participant and protagonist of important events that are held annually in Holguín and at the national level , such as Culture Week, the International Book Fair of Havana, the Festival of Artistic Youth Romerías de Mayo, during which it welcomes all the activities related to the literary world, and the coveted Celestino Short Story Award.

Precisely, this contest now reaches its 22nd edition with an air of renewal. Dozens of unpublished works and authors from all over the country participate each year in the narrative contest that pays tribute to one of the most important works of Cuban literature. 2020 imposed new challenges on the event and for the first time the jury received the contestants' works in digital format, in addition to sharing the readings and conferences that take place during the Celestino through social networks.

The work of this creative team is not limited to the edition and publication of new texts, but they remain faithful to the commitment to promote the habit of reading from the community and alternative spaces . In this way, initiatives arise to establish direct communication with their audiences and move from the publishing sphere to schools, libraries and public spaces. The Piñata of Letters and Dreamcatchers , dedicated to children, and Emergency Entry , in coordination with the literature section of the AHS, are examples of how La Luz involves its readers both in the editorial process and in the adventure that the reading.

But, undoubtedly, this endeavor has its greatest expression in the book and reading promotion campaigns that the publishing label has been developing for nine years, with the support of the AHS, the Provincial Center for Books and Literature and the System of Territorial Editions. That first campaign claimed that Everyone seeks the Light , and later the publisher renewed its commitment to literature. Today the certainty that Reading seduces, attracts thousands of followers in the networks and the usual spaces that are created by Ediciones La Luz to promote the work of Cuban and universal authors, as well as the news that each year has to offer.

The most recent proposal is tempered with the context that the world is going through since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. That is why Leer brings us closer. Leer Sana is the recommendation made by the creative team of La Luz before the risk of contagion. With a design by Robert Ráez, the campaign is an invitation to look for postponed meetings, canceled trips and people to meet in reading.

Once again, it is committed to the deployment on social networks of the contents created especially for this literary approach. Audiovisuals, podcasts , promotions and raffles, accompanied by fresh and contemporary graphics, make up the materials with which La Luz's creative team explores new forms of communication and promotion of its editorial work . His accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram show that every day more readers are enlightened by the literature made from this part of the Island.

Despite the material and sanitary conditions that it has had to overcome, La Luz has not stopped producing new texts, in constant communication with the authors of its catalog. This is how in 2020 the poetry notebooks Laminario , by Camilo Noa; Poses , by Norge Luis Labrada; Red meat ; by Reynaldo Zaldívar; Miraculous Statics , by Isabel Cristina; and Retazos , by Yecenia Ramírez, among others. The constancy of editors, proofreaders and designer has made it possible for new titles to be in the press, which will soon swell the shelves of the Celestino bookstore.

These novelties include genres such as poetry, theater, narrative, essays and children's literature. Among the names that will be published are Abel González Melo with his Primavera en vain , el Sexo chatarra , by María Liliana Celorrio; Zapping , by Ragnar Wilfredo Robas; Maikel Rodríguez's collection of Monsters , The Stones Clamarán , an anthology of contemporary Cuban poetry on LGBTI + themes, compiled by Virgilio López Lemus and Jesús J. Barquet, as well as the children's texts contained in the Espejo Collection.

Ediciones La Luz reinvents itself in the face of the challenges posed by new book formats, as well as alternative ways to promote them. It seeks to create a space for continuous familiarization and creation between modern literature and readers. There is a light on Maceo street in the city of Holguín. Get closer to her, because reading heals.