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Exile, Memory, and the Meaning of Home

A Conversation with Ana Hebra Flaster

Join us for an extraordinary conversation with Ana Hebra Flaster about her sweeping yet deeply intimate memoir Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town.

What happens when the country you love forces you out, leaving you just two days to abandon everything you’ve ever known? 

Ana Hebra Flaster was six years old when her working-class family was kicked out of their Havana barrio for opposing communism. Once devoted revolutionaries themselves but disillusioned by the Castro government’s repressive tactics, they fled to the US. The permanent losses they suffered—of home, country, and loved ones, all within forty-eight hours—haunted her multigenerational family as they reclaimed their lives and freedom in 1967 New Hampshire. There, they fed each other stories of their scrappy barrio—some of which Hebra Flaster has shared on All Things Considered—to resurrect their lost world and fortify themselves for a daunting task: building a new life in a foreign land.

Weaving pivotal events in Cuba–US history with her viejos’—elders’—stories of surviving political upheaval, impossible choices, and “refugeedom,” Property of the Revolution celebrates the indomitable spirit and wisdom of the women warriors who led the family out of Cuba, shaped its rebirth as Cuban Americans, and helped Ana grow up hopeful, future-facing—American. But what happens when deeply buried childhood memories resurface, demanding an adult’s reckoning?

Here’s how the fiercest love, the most stubborn will, and the power of family put nine new Americans back on their feet.

Register today to gain a deeper, more personal perspective on the refugee experience and the enduring quest to define home.

About the Author: 

Ana Hebra Flaster is a journalist and the author of Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town, published in April 2025 (She Writes Press, Simon & Schuster distribution). Ana’s work has appeared in national print and online media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe. Her commentaries and storytelling have aired on NPR’s All Things Considered and PBS’s Stories from the Stage. Since its publication, Property of the Revolution has won first place in several international writing contests, including 2026 IBPA Book Awards (Memoir); 2025 Discovery Book Awards (Nonfiction overall); 2025 International Book Awards (Creative Nonfiction); and the 2025 IAP Book Awards (Memoir of the Year). The memoir was selected as the Nashua, New Hampshire, 2026 All-City Read and the Rivier University 2025 First-Year Read. Ana speaks regularly with student, library, and civic groups about her family’s journey and the refugee and immigrant experience. She is currently focused on covering the struggle for democracy and human rights in Cuba in her weekly Substack, CubaCurious, a project she launched in July 2024.

This program is sponsored by the Alexandria Library Foundation.

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