Dolores Prida: 1943—: Playwright, Journalist, Poet

The Cuban revolution of 1959 and the beginning of Fidel Castro's rule changed life throughout the country, especially for those who were opposed to the new communist regime. Like many others, Manuel Prida chose to leave Cuba. He fled to the United States in 1959, and his wife and children followed in 1961. Dolores Prida arrived in Miami, Florida, but soon settled in New York City, taking a job with Schraffts, then one of the best-known restaurant chains in New York. Initially she worked in the bakery, but soon she was promoted to an administrative position. She managed to make use of her writing skills, and became editor of the Schraffts employee magazine.

In 1965 she entered Hunter College, where she majored in Spanish-American literature. She spent four years there but did not complete her degree requirements. In 1969 she left both Hunter and Schraffts to take a one-year position as a foreign correspondent for the publishing house Collier-Macmillan International. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, she held several positions that allowed her to make use of her writing and editorial skills. She became an editor for Simon & Schuster's International Dictionary, worked as the information services director for the National Puerto Rican Forum, served as managing editor of the Spanish-language daily newspaper El Tiempo, as well as being the London and New York correspondent for the magazine Visión, senior editor of Nuestro magazine, and literary manager for International Arts Relations, Inc. In the 1980s she served as publications director for the Association of Hispanic Arts.