Zulema Gutiérrez

Zulema Gutiérrez is an award-winning poet, writer, and independent journalist from Cuba.

As a journalist, Gutiérrez has worked with the feminist magazine ‘Alas Tensas’ and its Gender Observatory which research and campaign against gender-based violence in Cuba. She has interviewed several Cuban dissident artists who campaign for free expression in Cuba and has written profiles for artists imprisoned for taking part in peaceful pro-democracy protests.

As a writer, Gutiérrez has published several books including the poetry collections Islas que intentan salvarse (2011), Sentada junto a los crisantemos (2014), Danza alrededor del fuego (2018), Metralla (2019), and Técnicas de control (2020). She has also published the children's novel El sentimiento más importante (2017).

She has won several prizes for her work, including the La Llave Pública Narrative Prize (2016), the Portus Patris Poetry Prize (2018), the Holguín City Prize (2018), the Adelaida del Mármol Prize (2018), and the Hypermedia Editorial Poetry Prize (2020).

Gutiérrez is a member of the Archipiélago civic platform which works towards peaceful political change in Cuba. As such, she has been active in her advocacy for democracy and arbitrarily detained political prisoners.

Since 2021, Gutiérrez has been harassed, threatened, and persecuted for exercising her right to free expression and freedom of assembly. As a result of her participation in Archipiélago, she was effectively barred from working or participating in Cuba’s literary and cultural sector. In addition, Gutiérrez was effectively dismissed from her job at the Asociación Hermanos Saíz, an association for young Cuban artists.

In July 2025, Zulema Gutiérrez and her partner, the award-winning poet, literary critic, and translator Javier L. Mora arrived in Gdańsk, Poland where they are the ICORN residents until 2026.