UNEAC/Ediciones Unión (cover designer: Héctor Villaverde, editor: José Rodríguez Feo, correction: Maria Elena Delgado, author: Enrique Sainz), "Ensayos críticos," 1989. Offset print

Ensayos críticos (Critical Essays) is a collection of literary criticism by Enrique Sainz, published by Ediciones Unión in 1989, examining major figures and movements in Cuban literature from the colonial period through the 20th century. The book compiles diverse unpublished works written over approximately ten years, offering both general overviews and detailed textual analyses of Cuba's literary heritage.

Cover designer Héctor Villaverde creates a striking composition on a vibrant red-pink background featuring a bold yellow leaf with intricate vein details set against a dark charcoal background. The decorative spiral binding motif appears at the top as a graphic element, continuing the notebook aesthetic seen in other Ediciones Unión publications. The leaf imagery suggests both natural growth and the careful examination of literary "specimens"—each vein representing the close reading and analytical attention that literary criticism requires.

The table of contents reveals the comprehensive scope of Sainz's critical project, spanning Cuban literary history from enlightenment figure José Agustín Caballero through contemporary writers. Essays include "José Agustín Caballero: algunas observaciones," "Acercamiento de la poesía de Manuel de Zequeira," "En torno a la poesía de Rubalcava," "Un soneto de José María Heredia," "'La fuga de la tórtola,' de José Jacinto Milanés," "La obra mayor de Antonio López Prieto," "Meditación en torno a Francisco José Castellanos," "Los cuentos de Federico de Ibarzábal," "Regino Boti: evolución de un poeta," "La poesía pura en Cuba: algunas reflexiones," "Innovación y ruptura en Muerte de Narciso" (analyzing José Lezama Lima's seminal work), "La obra lírica de Dulce María Loynaz," "Octavio Smith: ensayo de aproximación," "Eliseo Diego: esplendor y memoria," and "Para leer El caserón, de José Soler Puig."

The "Palabras Preliminares" (Preliminary Words) explains: "Ensayos críticos is a compilation of diverse works, some published and others unpublished, written over approximately ten years. They differ among themselves because in some we propose the characterization of an entire corpus and in others the analysis of a specific work. Beyond the extension and profundity that the reader may find in each one, it is always a matter of simple approaches, reading proposals that do not pretend to do more than stimulate investigation and contribute, to some degree, to more penetrating and enriching readings of the studied themes."

The back cover description states: "Here are gathered essays and evaluations of diverse authors and themes from Cuban literature, among others Manuel de Zequeira, José María Heredia, José J. Milanés, Eliseo Diego, pure poetry in Cuba, José Lezama Lima, Dulce María Loynaz and José Soler Puig, in which the author emphasizes the most outstanding features of the works studied, whether through considerations of a general character or through the analysis of concrete texts. Ensayos críticos will be of great utility for students and professors of higher education, for writers and in general for those interested in the study and knowledge of 19th and 20th century Cuban literature."

Enrique Sainz (Ciudad de La Habana, 1941) is an essayist and literary researcher who graduated with a degree in Languages and Classical Literatures from the University of Havana. His other works include Silvestre de Balboa y la literatura cubana (1982), La literatura cubana de 1700 a 1790 (1983), and Trayectoria poética y crítica de Regino Boti(1987). Editor José Rodríguez Feo, co-founder of the influential Orígenes journal, ensures the book's scholarly rigor. Printed at the "Urselia Díaz Báez" workshop of Combinado Poligráfico "Alfredo López" and finished in January 1990 during "Year 32 of the Revolution," this volume represents the sophisticated literary criticism being produced in revolutionary Cuba during the 1980s.