Opening Reception of WORM: A Cuban American Odyssey

A powerful Cuban American story comes to life at the Coral Gables Museum on the occasion of the Miami Book Fair. The exhibition centers on Edel Rodriguez, who left Cuba with his family during the 1980 Mariel boatlift. Their journey began in the town of El Gabriel and continued through the Mariel harbor on a small shrimping boat headed for Florida.

Rodriguez later shared this experience in Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey, a memoir created as a graphic novel. The book follows his childhood in Communist Cuba, his family’s departure, and his early years in Miami and New York, where he grew into an artist and activist.

The exhibition features an extensive selection of original drawings from the book, along with source materials, personal artifacts, and photographs that informed the memoir and its visual storytelling.