Shelf Unbound October/November 2013 October 2013 | Page 32

novel thinking: spanish Shelf Unbound: The Tragedy of Fidel Castro has a fantastical cast of characters, including God (who “does not represent God”), JFK (“someone other than the American president with the same initials”), and Fidel Castro (who has “some similarities” with the actual Fidel Castro). Where did the idea for this story and these characters come from? The Tragedy of Fidel Castro by João Cerqueira translated from the Spanish by Karen Bennett and Chris Mingay 30 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 João Cerqueira: Religion has played an important