Reina María Rodriguez was born in Havana in 1952, less than a decade before the Cuban revolution. While Rodríguez' early poetry shows the influence of colloquialism, she has sought to develop a complex, philosophical voice, creating a space for difference within an ideologically saturated environment. In Cuba, Rodríguez is now recognized not only as a major poet but as an advocate for alternative (non-state) cultural spaces. She used her rooftop home, informally known as la azotea de Reina, as an intellectual salon that has been important in Havana for two decades.

Among Rodríguez' publications are La gente de mi barrio (1978); Cuando una mujer no duerme (UNEAC, 1980); Para un cordero blanco (Casa de las Américas, 1984); En la arena de Padua (Ediciones Unión, 1992); Páramos (Ediciones Unión, 1993); La foto del invernadero (Casa de las Américas, 1998); and the anthology Ellas escriben cartas de amor. Reina María Rodríguez has won two Casa de las Américas Prizes (1984, 1998), three National Critics' Awards (1992, 1995, 1999), and two Julián de Casal Prizes (1980, 1983).

Presently available work includes poems translated by Kristin Dykstra and Nancy Gates Madsen, now out with Zazil: Poetry and Poetics and forthcoming in Hopscotch: A Cultural Review 2:2 and Mandorla: New Writing from the Americas. Kristin Dykstra and Nancy Gates Madsen are working on a book-length translation of Rodríguez' poetry.