Literature of Puerto Rico - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Puerto Rican literature
First row: Alejandro Tapia y Rivera Alejandro Tapia y Rivera Alejandro Tapia y Rivera was a Puerto Rican poet, dramaturg, essayist and writer. Tapia is considered to be the father of Puerto Rican literature and as the person who has contributed the most to the cultural advancement of Puerto Rico's literature... Alejandrina Benitez de Gautier Alejandrina Benitez de Gautier Alejandrina Benítez de GautierThis name uses Spanish marriage naming customs; the first is the maiden family name "Benítez" and the second or matrimonial family name is "Gautier". is considered by many to be one of Puerto Rico's greatest poets.-Early years:Benítez de Gautier, born in Mayagüez,... José Gautier Benítez José Gautier Benítez José Gautier Benítez is considered Puerto Rico's best poet of the Romantic Era.-Early years:Gautier Benítez was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico to Rodulfo Gautier and the renowned Puerto Rican poet, Alejandrina Benitez de Gautier. His great-aunt, Maria Bibiana Benitez, was also a renowned Puerto Rican... Second row: Eugenio María de Hostos Eugenio María de Hostos Eugenio María de Hostos known as "El Ciudadano de América" , was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist and independence advocate.... Dr. Antonio S. Pedreira Antonio S. Pedreira Dr. Antonio S. Pedreira , was a renowned Puerto Rican author and educator.-Early years:Pedreira was born into a well-to-do family in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. He became interested in the art of writing stories as a child during his primary and secondary school years...

Puerto Rican literature evolved from the art of oral story telling

Oral literature

Oral literature corresponds in the sphere of the spoken word to literature as literature operates in the domain of the written word. It thus forms a generally more fundamental component of culture, but operates in many ways as one might expect literature to do...

to its present day status. Written works by the native islanders of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

were prohibited and repressed by the Spanish colonial government. Only those who were commissioned by the Spanish Crown to document the chronological history of the island were allowed to write.

It wasn't until the late 19th century with the arrival of the first printing press and the founding of the Royal Academy of Belles Letters that Puerto Rican literature began to flourish. The first writers to express their political views in regard to Spanish colonial rule of the island were journalists. After the United States invaded Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War and the island was ceded to the Americans as a condition of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, writers and poets began to express their opposition of the new colonial rule by writing about patriotic themes.

With the Puerto Rican diaspora of the 1940s, Puerto Rican literature was greatly influenced by a phenomenon known as the Nuyorican Movement

Nuyorican Movement

The Nuyorican Movement is a cultural and intellectual movement involving poets, writers, musicians and artists who are Puerto Rican or of Puerto Rican descent, who live in or near New York City, and either call themselves or are known as Nuyoricans...

. Puerto Rican literature continued to flourish and many Puerto Ricans have distinguished themselves as authors, poets, novelists, playwrights, essayists and in all the fields of literature. The influence of Puerto Rican literature has transcended the boundaries of the island to the United States and the rest of the world.

Early history

Puerto Rican literature got off to a late start. This was because the Spanish colonial government, which ruled over Puerto Rico at that time, feared that Puerto Rico would develop its own social and cultural identity and eventually seek its independence. Therefore, written works by the native islanders were prohibited and were punishable by prison terms or banishment. The island, which depended on an agricultural economy, had an illiteracy rate of over 80% in the beginning of the 19th century. The only people who had access to the libraries and who could afford books were either appointed Spanish government officials or wealthy land owners. The poor had to resort to oral story-telling in what are traditionally known in Puerto Rico as Coplas and Decimas.

The island's first writers were commissioned by the Spanish Crown to document only the chronological history of the island. Among these writers were Father Diego de Torres Vargas

Diego de Torres Vargas

Father Diego de Torres Vargas , a priest, was the first person to write a book about the history of Puerto Rico.-Early years:Torres Vargas was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to a prosperous family...

who wrote about the history of Puerto Rico, Father Francisco Ayerra de Santa María

Francisco Ayerra de Santa María

Father Francisco Ayerra de Santa María is considered to be Puerto Rico's first native born poet.-Early years:Santa Maria was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he received his primary and secondary education. He went to Mexico as a young and enrolled in the University of Mexico, where he earned...

who wrote poems about religious and historical themes and Juan Ponce de León II

Juan Ponce de Leon II

Juan Ponce de León II , was the first Puerto Rican to assume, though temporarily, the governorship of Puerto Rico.-Early years:...

who was commissioned to write a general description of the West Indies. The first native-born Puerto Rican governor, Ponce de León II included information on Taíno

Taíno people

The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...

culture, particularly their religious ceremonies and language. He also covered the early exploits of the conquistador

Conquistador

Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

s. These documents were then sent to the National Archives in Sevilla, Spain, where they were kept.

Puerto Rican history, however, was to change forever with the arrival of the first printing press

Printing press

A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...

from Mexico in 1806. That same year Juan Rodríguez Calderón (a Spaniard) wrote and published the first book in the island, titled Ocios de la Juventud. In 1851, the Spanish appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Juan de la Pezuela Cevallo, founded the Royal Academy of Belles Letters. This institution contributed greatly to the intellectual and literary progress of the island. The school licensed primary school teachers, formulated school methods, and held literary contests. However, only those with government positions and the wealthy benefited from the formation of the institution. It was ironic that the first Puerto Rican writers came from some of the island's wealthiest families, who were fed up with the injustices of the Spanish Crown.

19th century

The first written works in Puerto Rico were influenced by the Romanticism

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

of the time. Journalists were the first writers to express their political views in the newspapers of the day and later in the books which they authored. Through their books and novels, they expressed what they believed were the social injustices, which included slavery and poverty, brought upon the common Puerto Rican by the Spanish Crown. Many of these writers were considered to be dangerous liberals by the colonial government and were banished from the island. An example of this treatment was poet and journalist Francisco Gonzalo Marín

Francisco Gonzalo Marin

Lieutenant Francisco Gonzalo Marín, also known as Pachín Marín , considered by many as the designer of the Puerto Rican Flag was a poet and journalist who fought alongside José Martí as a member of the Cuban Liberation Army....

, who wrote against the Spanish Crown. Some went to the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

or New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

where they continued to write about patriotic themes while in exile. The literature of these writers helped fuel the desire of some to revolt against the Spanish government in Puerto Rico, resulting in the failed attempt known as the Grito de Lares

Grito de Lares

El Grito de Lares —also referred as the Lares uprising, the Lares revolt, Lares rebellion or even Lares Revolution—was the first major revolt against Spanish rule and call for independence in Puerto Rico...

in 1868.

When the Americans invaded Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

in 1898, many members of the Puerto Rican literary class welcomed them believing that eventually Puerto Rico would be granted its independence. Instead, Puerto Rico was declared a territory of the United States. The new government failed to realize that Puerto Rico was already a nation with its own culture and proceeded to Americanize the island. Many writers and poets expressed their opposition by writing about patriotic themes through their work. Puerto Rican literature continued to flourish.

Twentieth century migration to the U.S.

During the early part of the 20th century, many Puerto Ricans moved to the eastern coast and Mid-western parts of the United States in search of a better way of life. Most settled in cities such as New York and Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. There they faced racial discrimination and other hardships. Jesús Colón

Jesús Colón

Jesús Colón was a Puerto Rican writer known as the Father of the Nuyorican Movement.-Early years:Colón was born in Cayey, Puerto Rico after the Spanish-American War when the American Tobacco Company gained control of most of the tobacco producing land in Puerto Rico. His father was a baker and his...

, known as the Father of the Nuyorican Movement

Nuyorican Movement

, was discriminated against because of the color of his skin (he was Black) and because of his difficulty speaking the English language. He wrote about his experiences, as well as the experiences of other immigrants, becoming among the first Puerto Ricans to do so in English. His best known work, A Puerto Rican in New York, set the stage for the literary movement known as the "Nuyorican Movement". The aim of the Nuyorican Movement is to maintain the cultural identity in a foreign land of the Puerto Rican people. This movement is composed by a group of intellectuals which includes writers and poets who express their experiences as Nuyoricans living in the United States. Some of these writers and poets founded the Nuyorican Poets Café

Nuyorican Poets Café

The Nuyorican Poets Café is a non-profit organization in Alphabet City, Manhattan. It is a bastion of the Nuyorican art movement in New York City, USA, and has become a forum for poetry, music, hip hop, video, visual arts, comedy and theatre.-History:...

. Colón inspired notable authors and playwrights such as Nicholasa Mohr

Nicholasa Mohr

Nicholasa Mohr is one of the best known Nuyorican writers. Her works tell of growing up in the Puerto Rican communities of the Bronx and El Barrio and of the difficulties Puerto Rican women face in the United States.- Life and career :...

(Whose El Bronx collection of stories earned her a finalist position for the National Book Award

National Book Award

The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...

), Piri Thomas

Piri Thomas

Piri Thomas was a writer and poet whose autobiography Down These Mean Streets became a best-seller.-Early years:...

, Pedro Pietri

Pedro Pietri

Pedro Pietri , was a Nuyorican poet and playwright who co-founded the Nuyorican Poets Café. He was the poet laureate of the Nuyorican Movement.-Early years :...

, Esmeralda Santiago

Esmeralda Santiago

Esmeralda Santiago is a Puerto Rican author and former actress known for her novels and memoirs.-Early life:Santiago was born on 17 May 1948 in the San Juan district of Villa Palmeras, Santurce, Puerto Rico. In 1961, she came to the continental United States when she was thirteen years old, the...

, Giannina Braschi

Giannina Braschi

Giannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican writer. She is credited with writing the first Spanglish novel YO-YO BOING! and the poetry trilogy Empire of Dreams , which chronicles the Latin American immigrant's experiences in the United States...

and others.

Books and novels

Some of Puerto Rico's earliest writers were influenced by the teachings of Rafael Cordero

Rafael Cordero (educator)

Rafael Cordero , known as "The Father of Public Education in Puerto Rico", was a self-educated Puerto Rican who provided free schooling to children regardless of their race or social standing.-Early years:...

. Among these was Dr. Manuel A. Alonso

Manuel A. Alonso

Dr. Manuel A. Alonso was a writer, poet and journalist. He is considered to be the first Puerto Rican writer of notable importance.-Early years:...

, the first Puerto Rican writer of notable importance. In 1849 he published El Gíbaro, a collection of verses whose main themes were the poor Puerto Rican country farmer. Eugenio María de Hostos

Eugenio María de Hostos

Eugenio María de Hostos known as "El Ciudadano de América" , was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist and independence advocate....

who wrote La peregrinación de Bayoán in 1863, which used Bartolomé de las Casas as a spring board to reflect on Caribbean identity. After this first novel, Hostos abandoned fiction in favor of the essay which he saw as offering greater possibilities for inspiring social change. Alejandro Tapia y Rivera

Alejandro Tapia y Rivera

Alejandro Tapia y Rivera was a Puerto Rican poet, dramaturg, essayist and writer. Tapia is considered to be the father of Puerto Rican literature and as the person who has contributed the most to the cultural advancement of Puerto Rico's literature...

also known as the Father of Puerto Rican Literature, ushered in a new age of historiography

Historiography

Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...

with the publication of The Historical Library of Puerto Rico. Cayetano Coll y Toste

Cayetano Coll y Toste

Dr. Cayetano Coll y Toste , was a Puerto Rican historian and writer. He was the patriach of a prominent family of Puerto Rican, educators, politicians and writers.-Early years:...

was a renowned Puerto Rican historian and writer. His work The Indo-Antillano Vocabulary is valuable in understanding the way the Taínos lived. Dr. Manuel Zeno Gandía

Manuel Zeno Gandía

Dr. Manuel Zeno Gandía wrote the novel La Charca , which is considered by many to be the first Puerto Rican novel.-Early years:...

in 1899 wrote La Charca and told about the harsh life in the remote and mountainous coffee regions in Puerto Rico. Dr. Antonio S. Pedreira

Antonio S. Pedreira

Dr. Antonio S. Pedreira , was a renowned Puerto Rican author and educator.-Early years:Pedreira was born into a well-to-do family in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. He became interested in the art of writing stories as a child during his primary and secondary school years...

, described in his work Insularismo the cultural survival of the Puerto Rican identity after the American invasion.

Prominent Puerto Rican novelists and short story writers whose works recount the hardships experienced by Puerto Rican immigrants to New York City include Ed Vega

Ed Vega

Edgardo Vega Yunqué was a Puerto Rican novelist and short-story writer who also used the Americanized pen name Ed Vega.- Early years :...

, author of Blood Fugues; Giannina Braschi

Giannina Braschi

, author of Yo-Yo Boing!; Pedro Juan Soto

Pedro Juan Soto

Pedro Juan Soto was a Puerto Rican writer.-Early life:Pedro Juan Soto was born in Cataño, Puerto Rico, and went to primary and secondary school in Bayamón. At the age of eighteen, he moved to New York and attended Long Island University...

, author of Spiks
Spic
Spic is an ethnic slur used in the United States for a person of Hispanic background.-Etymology:Some in the United States believe the word is a play on their pronunciation of the English "speak."...

; and Manuel Ramos Otero

Manuel Ramos Otero

Manuel Ramos Otero was a Puerto Rican writer. He is widely considered to be the most important openly gay twentieth-century Puerto Rican writer who wrote in Spanish, and his work was often controversial due to its sexual and political content...

Early Poetry

María Bibiana Benítez

María Bibiana Benítez , was Puerto Rico's first known female poet and one of its first playwrights.-Early years:...

was Puerto Rico's first poetess and playwright. In 1832 she published her first poem "La Ninfa de Puerto Rico". Her niece was Alejandrina Benítez de Gautier

Alejandrina Benitez de Gautier

Alejandrina Benítez de GautierThis name uses Spanish marriage naming customs; the first is the maiden family name "Benítez" and the second or matrimonial family name is "Gautier". is considered by many to be one of Puerto Rico's greatest poets.-Early years:Benítez de Gautier, born in Mayagüez,...

, whose "Aguinaldo Puertorriqueño", published in 1843, gave her the recognition of being one of the island's great poets. Alejandrina's son José Gautier Benítez

José Gautier Benítez

José Gautier Benítez is considered Puerto Rico's best poet of the Romantic Era.-Early years:Gautier Benítez was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico to Rodulfo Gautier and the renowned Puerto Rican poet, Alejandrina Benitez de Gautier. His great-aunt, Maria Bibiana Benitez, was also a renowned Puerto Rican...

is considered by many to be Puerto Rico's greatest Romantic-era poet. Lola Rodríguez de Tió

Lola Rodríguez de Tio

Lola Rodríguez de TióThis name uses Spanish marriage naming customs; the first is the maiden family name " Rodríguez" and the second or matrimonial family name is "Tió"., , was the first Puerto Rican born poetess to establish herself a reputation as a great poet throughout all of Latin America...

was the poetess who wrote the lyrics to the revolutionary "La Borinqueña

La Borinqueña

La Borinqueña is the official anthem of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. After Puerto Rico became the "The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in 1952, the first elected governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, signed law #2 of July 24, 1952 that stated that the musical composition known as "La Borinqueña" was to...

" used by the revolutionists in the Grito de Lares

Grito de Lares

. Poets José de Diego

José de Diego

José de Diego y Martínez , known as "The Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement", was a statesman, journalist, poet, lawyer, and advocate for Puerto Rico's independence from Spain and from the United States....

, Virgilio Dávila

Virgilio Dávila

Virgilio Dávila , was a Puerto Rican poet, educator, politician and businessman. He is considered by many to be one of Puerto Rico's greatest representatives of the modern literary era.-Early years:...

, Luis Llorens Torres

Luis Lloréns Torres

Luis Llorens Torres , was a Puerto Rican poet, playwright, and politician. He was an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico.-Early years:...

, Nemesio Canales

Nemesio Canales

Nemesio R. Canales was a Puerto Rican essayist, journalist, novelist, playwright, politician and activist who defended women's civil rights...

, Francisco Matos Paoli

Francisco Matos Paoli

Francisco Matos Paoli March 9, 1915 - July 10, 2000), was a poet, critic, and essayist who in 1977 was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Paoli was also a Secretary General of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and a renowned Puerto Rican patriot...

, Juan Antonio Corretjer

Juan Antonio Corretjer

Juan Antonio Corretjer Montes , was a poet, journalist and pro-independence political activist opposing United States rule in Puerto Rico.-Early years:...

, Clemente Soto Vélez

Clemente Soto Vélez

Clemente Soto Vélez was a Puerto Rican nationalist, poet, journalist and activist who mentored many generations of artists in Puerto Rico and New York City...

and Hugo Margenat

Hugo Margenat

Hugo Margenat , was a Puerto Rican poet and Puerto Rican Independence advocate. His art was committed to serving a militant nationalistic agenda...

were independence advocates who wrote poems with patriotic inspired themes.

Nationalism

In 1928, Soto Vélez together with Alfredo Margenat (father of Hugo Margenat), Pedro Carrasquillo, Graciany Miranda Archilla, Fernando González Alberti, Luis Hernández Aquino, Samuel Lugo, Juan Calderón Escobar and Antonio Cruz Nieves founded the group "El Atalaya de los Dioses" which turned into the literary movement known as "Atalayismo." The "El Grupo Atalaya" movement sought to connect the poetic/literary world with political action and most of its members, including Soto Vélez became involved with the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party

The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded on September 17, 1922. Its main objective is to work for Puerto Rican Independence.In 1919, José Coll y Cuchí, a member of the Union Party of Puerto Rico, felt that the Union Party was not doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rican independence and he...

Universal lyricism

Mercedes Negrón Muñoz

Mercedes Negrón Muñoz a.k.a. "Clara Lair" , was an influential poet whose work dealt with the everyday struggles of the common Puerto Rican.-Early years:...

wrote under the name "Clara Lair" and published "Arras de Cristal" in 1937. In her poem she describes the everyday struggles of the common Puerto Rican. However, it was Julia de Burgos

Julia de Burgos

Julia Constancia Burgos García is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico, and along with Gabriela Mistral, is considered as one of the greatest female poets of Latin America...

who was to be considered by many as one of the greatest poets to be born in Puerto Rico and who later lived in New York. The inspiration spurred by her love of Puerto Rico is reflected in her poem "Río Grande de Loíza". Other important lyric poets of the early twentieth century include Luis Palés Matos

Luis Palés Matos

Luis Palés Matos was a Puerto Rican poet who is credited with creating the poetry genre known as Afro-Antillano.-Early years:...

, Luis Llorens Torres

Luis Lloréns Torres

Luis Llorens Torres , was a Puerto Rican poet, playwright, and politician. He was an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico.-Early years:...

, and Evaristo Ribera Chevremont

Evaristo Ribera Chevremont

Evaristo Ribera Chevremont is considered by many the most lyrical poet from Puerto Rico. Although several of his published books deal with Puerto Rican nationality and regionalism, the majority of his verses are liberated from folkloric subject matter and excel in universal lyricism.-Literary...

. In her scholarly book Evaristo Ribera Chevremont: Voz de Vanguardia, Carmen Irene Marxuach has argued that while several of Ribera Chevremont's dozens of published books do treat the subjects of Puerto Rican nationality and regionalism, the majority of his verses move away from folkloric subject matter and excel in a more universal lyricism. Robert Márquez's anthology Puerto Rican Poetry: A Selection from Aboriginal to Contemporary Times offers a useful overview and translation into English of many of the most important Puerto Rican poets.

Playwrights and essayists

One of Puerto Rico's greatest essayists and playwrights was Francisco Arriví

Francisco Arriví

Francisco Arriví , a.k.a. Paco, was a writer, poet and playwright known as "The Father of the Puerto Rican Theater."-Early years:...

(1915–2007) known as "The Father of the Puerto Rican Theater". Arriví who used a style known as "Areyto" presented in 1955, what is considered by many as one of greatest works, "Bolero y plena" at the University Theater and in 1958, he presented "Vejigantes" in the First Festival of Puerto Rican Theater. These were followed by "Sirena" (Mermaid) and "Medusa en la Bahía" (Medusa in the Bay). Arriví gained international recognition and his plays were presented abroad. He was instrumental in the establishemnt of various theater festivals and in the establishment of the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré (Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center) in Puerto Rico. Among the other great playwrights of Puerto Rico are René Marqués

René Marques

René Marqués was a renowned Puerto Rican short story writer and playwright.-Early years:Marqués was born, raised and educated in the city of Arecibo...

, whose "Oxcart" (La carreta) follows the hardships of a Puerto Rican family that moves from the island to New York City and whose El puertorriqueño dócil y otros ensayos describes the psychological and political realities of the island, José Luis González

José Luis González (writer)

José Luis González was a Puerto Rican essayist, novelist, short story writer, university professor, and journalist who lived most of his life in exile in Mexico due to his pro-independence political views...

, whose País de cuatro pisos y otros ensayos describes the rigid structures of island society, and Luis Rafael Sánchez

Luis Rafael Sanchez

Dr. Luis Rafael Sánchez a.k.a. "Wico" is a Puerto Rican playwright. Possibly his best known play is La Pasión según Antigona Pérez , a tragedy based on the life of Olga Viscal Garriga-Early years:...

, whose plays, short stories, essays, and novels, especially "La guaracha del Macho Camacho" (translated by Gregory Rabassa

Gregory Rabassa

Gregory Rabassa is a renowned literary translator from Spanish and Portuguese to English who currently teaches at Queens College.-Life and career:Rabassa was born in Yonkers, New York, U.S., into a family headed by a Cuban émigré...

as "Macho Camacho's Beat") have rendered him one of Puerto Rico's greatest contemporary writers. Younger contemporary Puerto Rican playwrights include Aravind Enrique Adyanthaya

Aravind Enrique Adyanthaya

Aravind Enrique Adyanthaya is a Puerto Rican writer, performer, and theater director. He is the founding artistic director of Casa Cruz de la Luna, an experimental theater company and cultural center based in an old house in the historical district of San Germán, Puerto Rico...

, founder of Casa Cruz de la Luna in San Germán, Puerto Rico

San Germán, Puerto Rico

San Germán is a municipality located in the southwestern region of Puerto Rico, south of Mayagüez and Maricao; north of Lajas; east of Hormigueros and Cabo Rojo; and west of Sabana Grande. San Germán is spread over 18 wards and San Germán Pueblo...

Modern and contemporary Puerto Rican literature

After a vibrant nationalist tradition of Puerto Rican writers from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, the island has maintained a solid production of outstanding authors. Oftentimes, these writers are cataloged by decade into "generations" (for example, writers who got their start in the 1950s are identified as "the Generation of 1950"). Some highly representative writers from the early and mid-20th century were: Juan Antonio Corretjer, Luis Lloréns Torres, Luis Palés Matos, Enrique Laguerre, and Francisco Matos Paoli. These Puerto Rican writers wrote in Spanish and reflected a literary Latin American tradition, and offered a variety of universal and social themes. Some of the most important writers who got their start in the 1950s were José Luis González, René Marqués, Pedro Juan Soto, and Emilio Díaz Valcárcel. Writers who started in the 1960s and 1970s included Carmen Lugo Filippi, Lourdes Vázquez, Rosario Ferré

Rosario Ferré

Dr. Rosario Ferré is a Puerto Rican writer, poet and essayist. Her father, Luis A. Ferré, was the third elected Governor of Puerto Rico, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party. When her mother, Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano, died in 1970...

, Luis Rafael Sánchez, Manuel Ramos Otero

Manuel Ramos Otero

, Ángel Encarnación, Edgardo Sanabria Santaliz, Olga Nolla

Olga Nolla

Olga Nolla was a Puerto Rican poet, writer, journalist and professor.-Early life:...

, Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá

Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá

Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá is a Puerto Rican essayist and novelist.- Bibliography :* La renuncia del héroe Baltasar...

, and Luis López Nieves

Luis López Nieves

Luis López Nieves is one of the most influential and best-selling Puerto Rican authors ever. He has won the National Literature Prize on two occasions: first, in 2000, with his book of historical short stories ; second, in 2005, with his novel . He published two other books including Seva, and ...

. Writers whose careers took off in the 1980s and 1990s include Ana Lydia Vega

Ana Lydia Vega

Ana Lydia Vega is a celebrated Puerto Rican female writer. She has received the Premio Juan Rulfo and the Premio Casa de las Américas . Vega was a professor of French literature and Caribbean studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras...

, Giannina Braschi

Giannina Braschi

, Mayra Santos-Febres

Mayra Santos-Febres

Mayra Santos-Febres is a Puerto Rican author, poet, novelist, professor of literature, and literary critic who has garnered fame at home and abroad....

, and Luz María Umpierre

Luz María Umpierre

Luz María Umpierre-Herrera is a Puerto Rican poet, scholar, and human rights activist who lives in the United States. She is also known as Luzma Umpierre. She is widely recognized for her open exploration of her lesbianism, immigrant experience, and bilingualism, and for her poetic exchange with...

. New and emerging voices on the island include Rafael Acevedo, Moisés Agosto, Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro

Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro

Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro is a Puerto Rican novelist, short story writer and essayist.-Biography:Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro was born in Guaynabo. She began writing at an early age in school newsletters and newspapers and won drawing and essay competitions at the Colegio San Vicente Ferrer in Cataño...

, Ana María Fuster Lavín, Zoé Jiménez Corretjer

Zoé Jiménez Corretjer

Zoé Jiménez Corretjer is an award winning author from Puerto Rico. She is a professor in the Department of Humanities, University of Puerto Rico at Humacao.-Life:...

, Alberto Martínez Márquez, Maribel Ortiz, Max Resto, and José E. Santos, while Spanish-language writers such as Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes

Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes

Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes is a gay Puerto Rican author, scholar, and performer. He is better known as Larry La Fountain. He has received several awards for his creative writing and scholarship as well as for his work with Latino and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students...

, Angel Lozada

Angel Lozada

Ángel Luis Lozada Novalés is a Puerto Rican novelist, activist, educator and scholar.-Early life:He was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, in 1968. He has a Bachelors in Sciences from The George Washington University and a Masters in Science from Johns Hopkins University . He is a Ph. D...

, Benito Pastoriza Iyodo

Benito Pastoriza Iyodo

Benito Pastoriza Iyodo is a Puerto Rican author of poetry, fiction and literary articles. He is known for the daring topics of his literary creations, which are both lyrical and thought provoking. He writes primarily in Spanish...

, and Alfredo Villanueva Collado write and publish their works in the U.S., Puerto Rican literature in English continues to flourish with the important contributions of authors such as Erika Lopez

Erika Lopez

Erika Lopez is an American cartoonist, novelist, and performance artist of Puerto Rican descent who has published six books and speaks openly of her bisexuality...

and Ernesto Quiñonez

Ernesto Quiñonez

Ernesto Quiñonez is an American novelist. His work received the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers designation, the Borders Bookstore Original New Voice selection, and was declared a “Best Book” by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times....

.

Numerous anthologies focus on the work of Puerto Rican writers. Some of these are Literatura y narrativa puertorriqueña: La escritura entre siglos edited by Mario Cancel; Literatura puertorriqueña del siglo XX: Antología edited by Mercedes López Baralt; and Los otros cuerpos: Antología de temática gay, lésbica y queer desde Puerto Rico y su diáspora, edited by David Caleb Acevedo, Moisés Agosto, and Luis Negrón, which focuses on LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

Puerto Rican literature.

A variety of essayists and columnists further enrich Puerto Rican letters. The more than 300 editorials published by Nelson Antonio Denis

Nelson Antonio Denis

Nelson Antonio Denis is a former New York politician who represented East Harlem in the New York State Assembly.-Early life:Denis was born and raised in New York City...

, Esq. in El Diario La Prensa

El Diario La Prensa

El Diario la Prensa is the largest and oldest Spanish-language daily newspaper in New York City, and the oldest Spanish-language daily in the United States. Published by ImpreMedia, the paper covers local, national and international news with an emphasis on Latin America, as well as human-interest...

about the New York/Puerto Rican diaspora, were recognized with repeated "Best Editorial Writing" Awards from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists

National Association of Hispanic Journalists

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to the advancement of Hispanic journalists in the United States and Puerto Rico...

. Dr. Delma S. Arrigoitia

Delma S. Arrigoitia

Dr. Delma S. Arrigoitia, PhD, J.D., is a historian, author, educator and lawyer whose written works cover the life and works of some of Puerto Rico's most prominent politicians of the early 20th century. Arrigoitia was also the first person in the University of Puerto Rico to earn a Masters Degree...

's written works has covered the life and works of some of Puerto Rico's most prominent politicians of the early 20th century.

Further Research

Caulfield, Carlota. "US Latina Caribbean Women Poets." In Carlota Caulfield and Darién Davis, Jr., eds., A Companion to US Latino Literatures. Woodbridge: Tamesis, 2007. ISBN 9781855661394
Gordis, Yanis. "Island and Continental Puerto Rican Literature: Cross-Cultural and Intertextual Considerations". Special Section: Multicultural Literature, Part IV. In ADE Bulletin 91 (Winter 1988). One of five articles about Puerto Rican literature.
Loustau, Laura R. Cuerpos errantes: literatura latina y latinoamericana en Estados Unidos. Rosario, Argentina: Beatriz Viterbo Editora, 2002. ISBN 9508451181
Moreira, Rubén A., ed. Antología de Poesía Puertorriqueña. (Vol. 1: Romanticismo, Vol. 2 Modernismo y Post Modernismo, Vol. 3 Contemporánea, Vol.4 Contemporánea). San Juan, P.R.: Tríptico Editores, 1992-1993.
Pausides, Alex, Pedro Antonio Valdez, and Carlos Roberto Gómez Beras, eds. Los nuevos caníbales: Antología de la más reciente poesía del Caribe hispano. San Juan: Isla Negra Editores, 2003. ISBN 1932271066
van Haesendonck, Kristian. "Enchantment or Fright? Identity and Postmodern Writing in Contempory Puerto Rico." In Theo D'Haen and Pieter Vemeulen, eds., Cultural Identity and Postmodern Writing. New York and Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2006. ISBN 9789042021181

External links

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Early history

19th century

Twentieth century migration to the U.S.

Books and novels

Early Poetry

Nationalism

Universal lyricism

Playwrights and essayists

Modern and contemporary Puerto Rican literature

See also

Further Research

External links