Amazing Female Writers from Puerto Rico: Part 1

“Books are a uniquely portable magic,” said Stephen King. Literature can become your Utopia if you find a great writer that makes you slip into their created worlds, just by reading the first page of their books. Puerto Rico possesses exceptional literature, and our women writers are not to be messed with: most of them were women who wrote ahead of their time, women who had a glimpse of the future in a feminist fashion, women who ignored the restrictions inflicted upon them and their thoughts by the Patriarchy. These intrepid and audacious writers are still read today, standing right next to the extraordinary literature created by Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, or Maya Angelou. Our authors should be eternally treasured, respected, and commemorated: they speak for themselves, but they also speak for all women.

 

 

Won the Premio Casa de las Américas in 1982 and the Premio Juan Rulfo in 1984. She was a French and Caribbean studies professor at Universidad de Puerto Rico. Vega constantly includes Spanish and English language in her work, along with our Island’s history and our ties with the United States. She writes about these subjects in her literary work. She also talks about the feminist position during the men-controlled Colonial literature that existed during her time, next to the Caribbean world and our constant dream of that world´s unification. Get a list of some of her works here.

Buy one of her books, Falsas cronicas del sur, here.

 

 

 

Poet, writer, journalist, and professor. Along with her cousin, Rosario Ferré, she created the literary magazine Zona de carga y descarga (1972-1975). Nolla was involved in women’s civil rights in Puerto Rico and loved to include her passion for History in her writing. She redefined the women’s place in society and intimacy. Other topics in her writing include decadence of the bourgeoisie, consumerism, and romantic/sexual experiences. She continually wrote poetry, stories, and novels, but later on decided to fully cultivate a narrative style, which eventually won her different awards, including the first award of Puerto Rico’s P.E.N. Club (in the novel category). Get a list of some of her works here.

Buy El manuscrito de Miramar here.

 

 

Poet, writer and literary critic, and daughter of Luis A. Ferré, our governor from 1968 to 1972. She won a special place inside Hispanoamerican literature because of the audacity in her writing. Ferré started writing professionally at the age of 14 for El Nuevo Día newspaper. Just like her cousin, she exposes the feminist entity, along with the political entity from our Island. The women wrote and created by Ferré usually transcend the role established and imposed by men in our society: Ferré´s women are also heroines. Get a list of some of her works here.

Buy her book, Cortazar: El romantico En Su Observatorio, here.

 

 

 

She lived in Puerto Rico until she was a teenager and later moved to Brooklyn, New York with her family. Her writing gives the perspective of those who emigrated from our Island and went into the big cities like New York, where they acquired different American-like characteristics, but never forgot their true identity, even though it was questioned whenever they came back to the Island. Santiago used her talent for writing to deliberately narrate the oppressive experiences women live in a sexist atmosphere. Most of her writing is done in English (although it´s been translated to Spanish in numerous occasions), which spiked an interest in readers to enter the world of her literary work since it was a different and innovative way of writing. Get a list of some of her works here.

Buy her book, Almost a Woman, here.

 

 

 

Poet and journalist, she mainly wrote about the common struggles of living in Puerto Rico, including the following topics: love, erotism, women, and death. Some of her poetry books were awarded by Insitituto de Literatura Puertorriqueña. Just like other women writers of her time, her poetry pondered and reflected about being a woman during the time she was alive. She also dabbled on the diverse aspects of romance. Get a list of some of her works here. 

Buy De la herida a la gloria, la poesía completa de Clara Lair here.

 

 

 

Literary critic and investigator, specialized in Medieval, Islamite and Semitic Spanish literature during the Spanish Golden Age and Renaissance. Spanish and Comparative Literature professor at Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Luce has received many honors and has been awarded by Puerto Rico´s P.E.N. Club and the Instituto de Literatura Puertorriqueña, She´s a member of the Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española, a correspondent with the Real Academia de la Lengua Española and the Academia Dominicana de la Lengua Española. Get a list of some of her works here.

Buy La literatura secreta de los ultimos musulmanes de España here.

 

 

She was a professor, anthropologist, and writer. She constantly studies Hispanoamerican colonial literature, literature from the 19th Century, Contemporary literature and Semiotic. Her anthropology studies circulate around the culture of Andean and Antillean natives, but she’s also known for her constant investigations about Benito Pérez Galdos’ literary works and Luis Palés Matos’ Negroid poetry. Mercedes is one of the most relevant and prominent literary critics in Hispanic Literature. She was also a member of La Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española and Real Academia de la Lengua Española. Get a list of her works here.

Buy Orfeo Mulato: Pales Ante El Umbral de Lo Sagrado here.

 

 

We hope this article motivates you to read your local writers!