“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.
Giannina Braschi (1953)
Braschi was a Nuyorican poet and writer. Her writing is characterized by a revolutionary fantasy, along with language and style innovations. Her works are written in English, Spanish, and Spanglish while demonstrating the imminent colonization process millions of Hispanics had to go through. She concentrates on exposing the constant political struggle Puerto Rico faces: Independent nation, Colony or State. Get a list her works here.
Sofía Irene Cardona (1962)
Poet and writer. Her writing usually includes women but also concentrates on diverse topics: fame, violence, community, marriage, and old age. Cardona writes for El Nuevo Día and Claridad. She includes in her interests Spanish Cinema, Romance Languages, Hispano-American Literature, and Iberian Literature. As of today, she is a Spanish Literature professor at Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Read some of her works here.
Carmen Lugo Filippi (1940)
Writer and co-author of Vírgenes y Mártires (1981). She writes about the diverse problems that can be found in our country’s situation and the diverse aspects of our social life, through a feminist point of view. Her constant defense of our culture, traditions, and women is of great significance in her literature that is still being read today. Get some of her work titles from here.
Magali García Ramis (1946)
Writer, journalism professor, journalist, and member of the Puerto Rican Academy of the Spanish Language. Her works usually expand on subjects like family, women, and Puerto Rico’s (and Puerto Rican) identity. García Ramis has been awarded by Puerto Rico´s P.E.N. Club. She has also received the Guggenheim Scholarship to continue working on her novel Las horas del sur. Get a list of her works here.
You can buy Las horas del sur here.
Mayra Santos Febres (1966)
Febres is a writer and poet. In her writing, she revindicates sexual and personal liberty of women, the defense of the rights of the LGBTA+ community. She also talks about the presence of Africanity, African-American individuals, along with our the Caribbean and Antillean essence as a country. She won the Premio Letras de Oro and Premio Juan Rulfo. Santos Febres is responsible for the amazing Festival de la Palabra that´s been going on ever since 2010. Get a list of her works here.
You can buy El exilio de los asesinos y otras historias de amor here.
Julia de Burgos (1914-1953)
Julia de Burgos is one of the best poets from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Burgos wrote ahead of her time and was always interested in social reform and liberty, in addition to love, death, and the significance of both in our human condition. Most of her poems are stamped with erotism and her love for our nature, while also questioning the roles imposed and established by men upon women. Her feminist and romantic views changed and influenced our literature enormously, paring her with great writers from all around the world. Read some of her poems here.
You can buy her poetry collection here.
Janette Becerra (1965)
Poet, narrator, professor, and literary critic. She´s been awarded by Puerto Rico´s P.E.N. Club and Instituto de Literatura Puertorriqueña for her storybook Doce versiones de soledad (2011). Most of her stories have won various prizes and honorable mentions. Get a list of her works here.
You can buy Doce versiones de soledad here.
Alexandra Pagán
Writer, professor, narrator, and poet. Her doctoral thesis was awarded by the Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española. Pagán collaborates with the following magazines: Hostos Literary Review, Boletín del Archivo Nacional de Teatro and Cine del Ateneo Puertorriqueño, Zurde, Códice, Pastiche, Brisas, Identidad, Tonguas and Puñal de Epifanía. She won the Premio del Cuento de El Nuevo Día for her story El cisne (2005). She´s a professor at Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras. Find some of her work´s titles here.
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