Mayra Santos-Febres
Encyclopedia
Mayra Santos-Febres is a Puerto Rican
author, poet
, novel
ist, professor of literature
, and literary critic who has garnered fame at home and abroad.
One of her most famous books is Sirena Selena vestida de pena (published in English as Sirena Selena), in which she describes the life of a teenaged homosexual male drag queen
who works in the streets and has a talent for singing bolero
s.
Santos-Febres holds an M.A. and Ph.D. (1991) from Cornell University
. Her work has been translated into French
, English
, German
, and Italian
, and is taught in many universities in the United States
.
Santos-Febres currently teaches at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus
. Her more recent publications include a collection of essays called Sobre piel y papel and also a novel about Isabel la Negra
titled Nuestra Señora de la Noche (Our Lady of the Night).
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...
author, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist, professor of literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, and literary critic who has garnered fame at home and abroad.
One of her most famous books is Sirena Selena vestida de pena (published in English as Sirena Selena), in which she describes the life of a teenaged homosexual male drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
who works in the streets and has a talent for singing bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
s.
Santos-Febres holds an M.A. and Ph.D. (1991) from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. Her work has been translated into French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, and is taught in many universities in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Santos-Febres currently teaches at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus
The University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras , also referred to as UPR-RP, is a public research university located on a campus in Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico...
. Her more recent publications include a collection of essays called Sobre piel y papel and also a novel about Isabel la Negra
Isabel la Negra
Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer , better known as "Isabel la Negra", was a Puerto Rican brothel owner and madam in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Her name and her brothel, Elizabeth's Dancing Club, became part of Puerto Rican folklore both during her life and posthumously...
titled Nuestra Señora de la Noche (Our Lady of the Night).
Works
- Anamu y manigua (1990)
- Pez de vidrio (1994) (Winner of the Juan RulfoJuan RulfoJuan Rulfo was a Mexican author and photographer. One of Latin America's most esteemed authors, Rulfo's reputation rests on two slim books, the novel Pedro Páramo , and El Llano en llamas...
Award) - Urban Oracles (1997)
- Sirena Selena vestida de pena (2000) (translated as Sirena Selena, 2000)
- Tercer mundo (2000)
- Cualquier miércoles soy tuya (2002) (translated as Any Wednesday, I'm Yours, 2005)
- Sobre piel y papel (2005)
- Boat People (2005)
- Nuestra Señora de la Noche (2006) (translated as Our Lady of the Night, 2009)
- Fe en disfraz (2009)
- Tratado de Medicina Natural para Hombres Melancólicos (2011)
See also
- List of Puerto Rican writers
- List of Puerto Ricans
- List of Puerto Ricans of African descent
- Puerto Rican literature