The Caribbean

Puerto Rico

Julia de Burgos was a Puerto Rican poet and civil rights activist. She was known for her passionate poetry, which addressed themes of feminism, love, and social justice. Her notable works include "Río Grande de Loíza" and "Yo misma fui mi ruta." Her books can be found in our catalog here.

Mayra Santos-Febres is a Puerto Rican author, poet, novelist, professor of literature, essayist, and literary critic. Her work often explores themes of race, diaspora identity, female sexuality, gender fluidity, desire, and power1. She has received numerous awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Juan Rulfo Award. Santos-Febres is also a cultural activist promoting literature among young readers and the less fortunate.

Laura Gallego Otero was a Puerto Rican poet, essayist, and educator born on February 9, 1924, in Bayamón. She was known for her contributions to Puerto Rican literature, particularly during the 1940s and 1950s. Gallego Otero earned a bachelor's degree in Pedagogy with a specialization in Spanish language and literature from the University of Puerto Rico, where she also completed a master's degree in Hispanic Studies.

She worked as a high school Spanish teacher and later as an education professor at the University of Puerto Rico. Her poetry often explored themes of love, nature, and the cultural and social changes in Puerto Rico1. Some of her notable works include "Presencia" (1952), "Celajes" (1959), and "Que voy de vuelo" (1980). In 2002, she was named Humanist of the Year by the Puerto Rican Endowment for the Humanities

Cuba

Lydia Cabrera (May 20, 1899 – September 19, 1991) was a prominent Cuban ethnographer, writer, and literary activist known for her extensive work on Santería and Afro-Cuban religions. Although she published over a hundred books, most remain untranslated. Her key work, El Monte (1954), is a major ethnographic study of Afro-Cuban traditions, herbalism, and religion and is a foundational text for Lukumi and Palo Monte practitioners.

Her research materials were donated to the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami. Cabrera is praised for transforming Afro-Cuban oral narratives into literary works. Her influential writing includes descriptions of major Afro-Cuban religions, such as Regla de Ocha (Santería), Ifá, and Palo Monte. Literary critics and anthropologists value her for documenting oral traditions and religious ceremonies, making significant contributions to literature, anthropology, art, ethnomusicology, and ethnology.

Dulce María Loynaz, the "grande dame of Cuban letters," earned the Cervantes Prize in 1992 for her significant contributions to Spanish literature. Often compared to Latin American poets like Gabriela Mistral and Alfonsina Storni, and seen as a precursor to magical realism with her novel Jardín (1951), Loynaz also penned the travel memoir Un verano en Tenerife and several poetry collections. Born in Havana on December 10, 1902, to a prominent family, she was educated at home and earned a law degree from the University of Havana. Influenced by French poets and Indian poet Tagore, Loynaz's unique style developed early, as noted by visiting poets like Federico García Lorca. Despite a period of silence during the Cuban Revolution, she remained active in literary circles and continued to lead the Academia Cubana de la Lengua. Her later years saw a reevaluation of her work, culminating in the publication of selected poetry and the prestigious Cervantes Prize. Loynaz died in Havana on April 27, 1997, leaving a legacy of concise and profoundly personal writing admired for its democratic values. Her books can be found here.

Dominican Republic

Hilma Contreras Castillo (1913-2006) was a Dominican writer from San Francisco de Macorís. Educated in Paris, she studied French, English, literature, and archaeology before returning to the Dominican Republic in 1933. Encouraged by Juan Bosch in 1937, she started writing stories published in various newspapers. In 2002, she became the first woman to receive the National Literature Award.

Mahadai Das was a poet born in Eccles, Guyana, in 1954. She attended Bishops' High School, earned her first degree from the University of Guyana, and later earned a B.A. in philosophy from Columbia University. Das started a doctoral program at the University of Chicago but couldn't complete it due to illness. She was a dancer, actress, teacher, and beauty queen (Ms. Dewali, 1971). In 1976, she volunteered with the Guyana National Service and promoted Indo-Guyanese art forms through the Messenger Group. Das's poetry, which often focused on ethnic identity and working conditions in the Caribbean, made her one of the first Indo-Caribbean women to be published. Her collection "A Leaf in His Ear" was recognized in an article about "10 Female Caribbean Authors You Should Know," and her work "Bones" was published in 1988 by Peepal Press. She was involved in the Working People's Alliance, addressing social and political issues in Guyana.