List of Puerto Ricans - Authors, Playwrights and Poets

Authors, Playwrights and Poets

A

• Jack Agüeros, author, playwright, poet and translator.
• Quiara Alegría Hudes, author, playwright
  Wrote the book for Broadway's musical In the Heights. Winner of 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Her play, Elliot, a Soldier's Fugue, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2007 and has been performed around the country and in Romania and Brazil.
• Dr. Miguel Algarín, poet, writer
  Co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.
• Dr. Manuel A. Alonso, poet and author
  Considered by many to be the first Puerto Rican writer of notable importance.
• Alba Ambert, novelist
  Ambert in 1996, became the first Hispanic author to win the Carey McWilliams Award for Multicultural Literature, presented by the Multicultural Review, for her novel :A Perfect Silence”.’’
• Francisco Arriví, writer, poet, and playwright
  Arriví known as "The Father of the Puerto Rican Theater".
• Rane Arroyo, poet, playwright and scholar

B

• Pura Belpré, author
  First Puerto Rican librarian in New York City.
• Samuel Beniquez, author
  Author of the autobiographical book entitled: Tu alto precio... Mi gran valor.
• María Bibiana Benítez, playwright
  Benitez is one of Puerto Rico's "first" poetesses.
• Alejandrina Benítez de Gautier, poet
  Benítez de Gautier's collaboration with the "Aguinaldo Puertorriqueño" (Collection of Puerto Rican Poetry) gave her recognition as a great poet.
• Tomás Blanco, writer and historian
  Blanco was the author of "Prontuario Historico de Puerto Rico" and "El Prejuicio Racial en Puerto Rico" (Racial Prejudice in Puerto Rico).
• Juan Boria, Afro-Caribbean poet
  Boria, also known as the Negro Verse Pharaoh, was a poet known for his Afro-Caribbean poetry.
• Giannina Braschi, poet
  Braschi is a vanguard poet, Spanglish novelist, and performer of spoken word.

C

• Mayra Calvani, writer
• Zenobia Camprubí, writer/poet (Puerto Rican mother)
  Camprubí was also the wife of Nobel Prize winning author Juan Ramón Jiménez.
• Nemesio Canales, essayist and poet.
• Jesús Colón, writer
  "Father of the Nuyorican Movement."
• Manuel Corchado y Juarbe, poet, journalist and politician
  Corchado y Juarbe defended the abolition of slavery and the establishment of a University in Puerto Rico.
• Juan Antonio Corretjer, poet
  Corretjer was also a journalist and pro-independence political activist who opposed United States rule in Puerto Rico..

D

• Nicholas Dante,
  Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright who is best known for the worldwide musical hit A Chorus Line
• Dr. José Antonio Dávila, poet
  Dávila was a well-known poet during Puerto Rico's postmodern era of poetry.
• Virgilio Dávila, poet
  Dávila is considered by many to be one of Puerto Rico's greatest representatives of the modern literary era..
• Julia de Burgos, poet
  Burgos is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico.
• Eugenio María de Hostos, writer (see also Educators and Politicians)
  Wrote "La Peregrinación de Bayoán", the founding text of Puerto Rican literature.
• Caridad de la Luz a.k.a. "La Bruja", poet
  She is also the writer/actor of "Boogie Rican Blvd".
• Abelardo Díaz Alfaro, writer

E

• Sandra María Esteves, Nuyorican poet

F

• Dr. Héctor Feliciano, author
  Feliciano's book "The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy to Steal the World's Greatest Works of Art" has shed a light on an estimated 20,000 looted works; each one is owned by a museum or a collector somewhere.
• Isabel Freire de Matos, writer, educator and advocate of Puerto Rican independence.
• Dr. Rosario Ferré, writer
• Shaggy Flores, Nuyorican writer, poet
  African Diaspora Scholar, Founder of Voices for the Voiceless.
• Félix Franco-Oppenheimer, poet and writer
  His works include "Contornos", "Imagen y visión edénica de Puerto Rico", and "Antología poética".

G

• Magali García Ramis, writer
• José Gautier Benítez, poet
  Gautier Benítez is considered by many to be Puerto Rico's best poet of the Romantic Era.
• José Luis González, writer
  One of the most prominent writers of the 20th century, particularly for his "El país de cuatro pisos" (1980).
• Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, new-age author, prominent Santería expert.

H

• Victor Hernández Cruz, poet
  In 1969, Hernández Cruz became the first Hispanic to be published by a mainstream publishing house when Random House published his poem "Snaps". In 1981, Life Magazine named him one of America's (US) greatest poets.

L

• Dr. Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, writer
  Author of "Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails".
• Enrique A. Laguerre, writer
  Laguerre was nominated for Nobel Prize in literature.
• Tato Laviera, poet
  Author of "AmeRícan".
• Georgina Lázaro, children's poet
• Muna Lee, writer
  Born in Mississippi, was the first wife of Luis Muñoz Marín.
• Luis Llorens Torres, poet
• Washington Llorens, journalist, writer, linguist, and scholar.
• Luis López Nieves, writer

M

• Hugo Margenat, poet
  Margenat was also the founder of the political youth pro-independence organizations "Acción Juventud Independentista" and "Federación de Universitarios Pro Independencia".
• Rene Marques, playwright
  Marqués wrote "La Carreta" (The Oxcart) which helped secure his reputation as a leading literary figure in Puerto Rico.
• Nemir Matos-Cintrón, poet, novelist
• Francisco Matos Paoli, poet, critic, and essayist
  Matos Paoli was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature in 1977. He was also a Secretary General of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.
• Dr. Concha Melendez, poet, writer
• Manuel Méndez Ballester, writer
• Dr. Nancy Mercado, poet, playwright
  Mercado is the author of "It Concerns the Madness," seven theatre plays, and a number of essays. Her work has been extensively anthologized.
• Pedro Mir, former Poet Laureate of the Dominican Republic (Puerto Rican mother)
• Nicholasa Mohr, writer
  Her works, among which is the novel Nilda, 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. In 1973, she became the first Hispanic woman in the modern times to have her literary works published by the major commercial publishing houses, and she has developed the longest career as a creative writer for these publishing houses than any other Hispanic female writer.

N

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

O

• Judith Ortiz Cofer, poet, writer and essayist.
  In 1994, she became the first Hispanic to win the O. Henry Prize for her story “The Latin Deli”. In 1996, Cofer and illustrator Susan Guevara became the first recipients of the Pura Belpre Award for Hispanic children’s literature.
• Micol Ostow, author
  Ostow wrote of "Mind Your Manners, Dick and Jane". Her novel, "Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa", was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age.

P

• Dr. José Gualberto Padilla a.k.a. "El Caribe" poet, physician, journalist and politician
  an advocate for Puerto Rico's independence, Padilla was imprisoned for his role in El Grito de Lares revolt.
• Luis Palés Matos, poet of Afro-Caribbean themes
• Dr. Antonio S. Pedreira, writer and educator
  Pedreira's most important book was "Insularismo", in which he explores the meaning of being Puerto Rican.
• Pedro Pietri, poet, playwright
  Co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.
• Miguel Piñero, playwright, writer
  Co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

R

• Manuel Ramos Otero, writer, poet
• Evaristo Ribera Chevremont, poet
• José Rivera, playwright
  Rivera is the first Puerto Rican screenwriter to be nominated for an Oscar.
• Marie Teresa Ríos, author
  Author of the novel "The Fifteenth Pelican," which was the basis for the popular 1960s television sitcom, "The Flying Nun".
• Lola Rodríguez de Tió, poet
  Rodríguez de Tió wrote lyrics to the revolutionary "La Borinqueña".
• Francisco Rojas Tollinchi, poet, civic leader and journalist.

S

• Luis Rafael Sánchez, playwright
• Wilfredo Santa-Gómez, writer, journalist
• Esmeralda Santiago, author
• Mayra Santos-Febres, poet, novelist
• Pedro Juan Soto, writer/novelist
  Soto is the father of slain independence activist Carlos Soto Arriví.
• Clemente Soto Vélez, poet and activist

T

• Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, writer and poet
  "The Father of Puerto Rican Literature".
• Piri Thomas, writer, poet
  Thomas' autobiography Down These Mean Streets was a best-seller.
• Edwin Torres, "Nuyorican Movement" poet
• Judge Edwin Torres, writer
  New York Supreme Court Justice who wrote "Carlito's Way".

U

• Dr. Luz María Umpierre, poet, scholar

V

• Ed Vega, novelist
• Irene Vilar, author and literary agent
  Vilar is the granddaughter of independence activist Lolita Lebrón.

W

• William Carlos Williams (Puerto Rican mother), Modernist poet

Z

• Dr. Manuel Zeno Gandia, writer
  Zeno Gandia wrote "La Charca", the first Puerto Rican novel.