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American literature in Spanish in the United States dates back as 1610 when the Spanish explorer Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá published his epic poem Historia de Nuevo México (History of New Mexico).[1] He was an early chronicler of the conquest of the Americas and a forerunner of Spanish-language literature in the United States given his focus on the American landscape and the customs of the people.[1] However, it was not until the late 20th century that Spanish language literature written by Americans was regularly published in the United States.[2][3]
The rise of Spanish-language Latino literature has been fraught with obstacles related to publication and audience.[4] Latino/a authors have expanded audience expectations by attending to narrative innovation and design and by creating challenging reading situations.[5] Rather than compose their narratives with an actual audience in mind, many Latino/a authors sought to write for a new, ideal audience capable of engaging with even the most complex story worlds and stylistic innovations. From the 1960s to the present, breakthrough authors who created new audiences include Oscar “Zeta” Acosta, Gloria Anzaldúa, Piri Thomas, Giannina Braschi, Sandra Cisneros, Junot Díaz, and Gilbert Hernandez have engaged a sophisticated bilingual readership in their avant-garde narratives, code-switching, serialization, and intertextual play in Spanish, Spanglish, and English.[4] Their works, often first published in independent and academic presses, were widely taught as foundational works in the burgeoning fields of Latino Studies and Third World Feminisms; their academic following helped to create a commercial market for Latino literature.[6][2]
By 2000, many more Mexican-Americans/Chicanos, Cuban-Americans, Puerto Ricans on the island and Nuyoricans on the mainland, and US immigrants from Latin America have published literature in Spanish in US trade, academic, and mainstream publishing houses.[6] Other US based authors who either write in Spanish or who regularly use Spanish phrases in their works include: Julia Álvarez, Martín Espada, Rhina Espaillat, Nicholasa Mohr, Cristina García, Óscar Hijuelos, Cherríe Moraga, Ricardo Pau-Llosa, Gustavo Pérez Firmat, and Ilan Stavans.[7]
Piri Thomas's Down These Mean Streets and Giannina Braschi's Yo-Yo Boing! are groundbreaking American novels for their prominent use Spanish and Spanglish and their unflinching description of urban life for Hispanic Americans.[7] Piri Thomas was pressured to self-translate Spanish passages into English for the publication of his 1967 novel at his publisher’s insistence that the text not alienate monolingual English readers.[5] Nonetheless, the book was banned by New York City public schools because it was perceived, as reported by The New York Times in 1971, as "a threat to their values. Many... who assail 'Down These Mean Streets' indicate they do so not so much because it portrays life in New York's Puerto Rican community as because the portrayal includes vulgarities and descriptions of sexual acts".[8] Three decades years later, Giannina Braschi's 1998 novel, featured entire chapters written in untranslated Spanish and extensive dramatic dialogues that mixed Spanish, Spanglish, and English.[9] Though Braschi's bilingual work also used vulgarities and addressed social justice issues such as domestic violence, racism, discrimination, sexual harassment directly,[10] Yo-Yo Boing! book was not censored. However, critic Christopher Gonzalez observes that non-Spanish speaking reviewers considered the work 'an affront'".[4] Gonzalez notes that bilingual reviewers, such as David William Foster in Review of Contemporary Fiction praised Yo-Yo Boing! for its "superb exploration for the lived experiences of Hispanics."[4] Other critics such as Harold Augenbraum, Ilan Stavans, Doris Sommer, and Adriana Estill have used the phrase "a tour de force" to describe the novel[9]
Major Spanish poets who spent time in the United States and wrote poetry in Spanish during their stay include Federico García Lorca who wrote his best known works, including Poeta en Nueva York in New York City in 1929.[11] Though Lorca only stayed in the United States for 10 months, the work is considered both Spanish and American literature given the subject of New York City.[11] While in exile in San Juan, Puerto Rico after the Spanish civil war, Nobel Prize laureate Juan Ramón Jiménez wrote Voces de mi copla (Voices of My Song) and Animal de fondo (Animal of Depth) in the 1940s.[12]
Prominent American-born poets who wrote in Spanish about life in American cities include Pedro Pietri (Puerto Rican Obituary), Giannina Braschi (El imperio de los sueños/Empire of Dreams, 1988), Julia de Burgos (Yo Misma Fui Mi Ruta (I Was My Own Path), and Ana Castillo.[13][14] Williams Carlos Williams used Spanish titles and flourishes in his poetry but did not write publish extensive works in Spanish.[15]
Since 2012, when University of Iowa established the country's first MFA Spanish Creative Writings Program, other American universities such as Hofstra and New York University has also established MFA programs in Spanish.[16]
Organized by decades, these publications debuted new work by US based Latino/a and Latinx authors who wrote in Spanish and Spanglish.
1980s
1990s
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2010 to 2020
U.S. based authors who write and publish stories, poetry, novels, or theater in Spanish include: