Puerto Rican Authors Who Have Set Literature on Fire
According to the Pew Research Center, Puerto Ricans are the 2nd largest Latino group in the U.S, totaling 5.6 million in 2017. They have started major literary movements, particularly in New York, the home of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and have thrived since pioneers like Bernardo Vega and Jesus Colon wrote about their experiences on the mainland.
Esmeralda Santiago is the author of When I Was Puerto Rican, Almost a Woman, and The Turkish Lover; the novel América’s Dream; and a children’s book, A Doll for Navidades. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and House & Garden, among other publications, and on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she lives in New Yor
Willie Perdomo is the author of The Crazy Bunch (Penguin Books, 2019); The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon (Penguin Books, 2014); Smoking Lovely (Rattapallax, 2003), and Where a Nickel Costs a Dime (W. W. Norton, 1996).
Aurora Levins Morales is the author of several books, including Kindling: Writings on the Body and Remedios: Stories of Earth and Iron from the History of Puertorriqueñas.
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Ivelisse Rodriguez is the author of the critically acclaimed, Love War Stories (Feminist Press, 2018), a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner Award in Fiction. She also serves as Editor of an interview series focusing on contemporary Puerto Rican writers published by Centro Voices.
Martin Espada is the author of poetry book including Some of Espada’s more recent books of poetry include A Mayan Astronomer in Hell’s Kitchen (2000), Alabanza: New and Selected Poems, 1982–2002 (2003), The Republic of Poetry (2006), The Trouble Ball (2011), The Meaning of the Shovel (2014), and Vivas to Those Who Have Failed (2016).
Under the pen name Black Artemis, Sofia Quintero wrote Explicit Content, Picture Me Rollin’ and Burn. She is also the author of the novel Divas Don’t Yield and contributed novellas to the “chica lit” anthologies Friday Night Chicas and Names I Call My Sister.
Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning writer and author of the young adult novels Dealing in Dreams, The Education of Margot Sanchez, the middle grade novel Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit (March 2020), and the forthcoming Never Look Back (September 2020) by Bloomsbury.
Urayoán Noel is the author of eight books of poetry, including Buzzing Hemisphere / Rumor Hemisférico (2015) and the forthcoming Transversal, both with the University of Arizona Press. He received the LASA Latino Studies Section Book Prize and an MLA Honorable Mention for his study In Visible Movement: Nuyorican Poetry from the Sixties to Slam (University of Iowa Press, 2014). His translations include no budu please by Wingston González (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2018) and Architecture of Dispersed Life: Selected Poetry by Pablo de Rokha (Shearsman Books, 2018), which was a finalist for the National Translation Award.
Gabby Rivera is a Bronx-born queer Latinx babe on a mission to create the wildest, most fun stories ever. She’s the first Latina to write for Marvel comics, penning the solo series AMERICA about America Chavez, a portal-punching queer Latina powerhouse. In 2017, Gabby was named one of the top comic creators by the SyFy network, and one of NBC’s #Pride30 Innovators. Gabby now makes magic on both coasts, currently residing in California. She writes for all the sweet baby queers and her mom. Juliet Takes a Breath is her debut novel.
Raquel Salas Rivera (Mayagüez, 1985) is a Puerto Rican poet, translator, and editor. His honors include being named the 2018-19 Poet Laureate of Philadelphia and receiving the New Voices Award from Puerto Rico’s Festival de la Palabra. He is the author of five full-length poetry books.
Julia De Burgos is the legendary author of the poetry collections Poemas exactos a mi misma (1937), Poema en veinte surcos (1938), Canción de la verdad sencilla (1939), and the posthumously-published El mar y tú: otros poemas (1954).
Click on the links below and check out how the following authors have also made great contributions to Puerto Rican literature.
