ABSTRACT
Frías retraces Chester Himes’s life in Spain (1969–1984) through an analysis of his writings and her visit to the town of Moraira to interview some of the residents who knew the African American author. For Frías, the writer’s experiences were intimately connected to three women (W. Trierweiler, R. Fisher, and L. Packard): what emerges through these interracial relationships is not only the interconnectedness of sexuality and American racial politics, but also the recurrent dynamics between male writers and their female companions. The chapter provides details about Himes’s vision of Spain, and his refusal to engage with its politics and culture. There are, however, references in his texts to the country’s backwardness, and to women’s lack of education and sexual repression, for which he holds the Catholic Church responsible. Paradoxically, in spite of his silence on the nation’s politics, he could not escape them, having to contend with existing censorship. Furthermore, considering his expressions of disdain, it is certainly ironic that Himes is the only African American writer to have been honored with a public monument in Spain.
