There are topics that the sensibility of an artist cannot ignore. Desde la soledad y la esperanza (From solitude and hope), a book dedicated to the Cuban Five, held as political prisoners in the United States since 1998, was presented Wednesday at the International Press Center in Havana as part of a new global campaign demanding their freedom.

Edited by the Capitan San Luis publishing house, the volume includes a prologue by writer Roberto Fernandez Retamar and an epilogue by Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, president of the Cuban parliament.

The book presents the essays of 17 writers, who from a literary perspective tell the story of an injustice that needs to be told and spread. Photos and other materials explaining the case combine with the work of 20 visual artists on the subject.

The book is accompanied by a CD with several of contemporary Cuban musicians and composers including Ernan Lopez Nussa, Silvio Rodriguez, Alejandro Valdes and Polo Montanez.

"This is a book is a hodgepodge with a very curious coherency; it represents a very emotional experience and offers a great number of arguments," said Cuban Minister of Culture Abel Prieto at the book launching attended by several of the artists and relatives of the Cuban Five.