I left my country because I was forced to, and I do not think that I am going to lose my language because I live in England

Well, I write in exile because I cannot return to my country, so I have no choice but to see myself as an exiled writer.

What I do believe is that there is always a relationship between writing and reading, a constant interplay between the writer on the one hand and the reader on the other

I have one main reader, Miriam Gomez, my wife. She reads everything I write - I have not finished writing something and she is already reading it.

Tobacco is the opiate of the gentleman, the religion of the rich.

I think that I've tried many times to get Cuba in my writings, especially Havana, which was once a great and fascinating city.

I live in London and I am a British subject, although I do write in Spanish, of course