UVM Libraries is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by featuring new books in our collection by Hispanic or Latinx/e authors. Browse our list to find novels, poetry, and nonfiction in both English and Spanish. Visit our display in Howe Library Lobby for even more books like these.
¡Ay tú! : critical essays on the life and work of Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros has been a prominent figure in Latinx/Chicanx literature and art and has written more than a dozen works including The House on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, and is also the first Chicana to be published by a major press. Her personal collection has been a part of Texas State University's Wittliff Collections and she is the recipient of the National Medal of the Arts, a MacArthur "Genius" Award, and the PEN/Nabokov Award for International Literature. As influential as her work has been to many Latinx writers and artists, no one has done a full biography and analysis of her writing and artwork. Sonia Saldívar-Hull and Geneva M. Gano have gathered a list of new and established scholars who have extensively studied her archives to form an edited collection of fourteen essays that analyze recent research on her works that go beyond The House on Mango Street, which, of her books, has been the most heavily studied from elementary schools to college courses. Each chapter will look through the text of each of Cisneros's books and go through common themes that have been presented in her work such as friendship, harassment, and visual arts. The collection will end with a new interview with Cisneros and journalist Macarena Hernández.
A game between a woman's father and husband simmers and boils into scalding danger; a daughter creates an elaborate feast for her grieving mother; a solar eclipse burns emotions and deceit out into the open; a girl flees across a desert in the pitch-black night. In these stories of suffocating atmosphere, the bland restraint of ordinary life careers into violence and darkness; they are hand grenades thrown at mundanity and the status quo. Foregrounding the voices and experiences of women and children and veering from claustrophobic suburbia to untamed nature and its great vistas of desert and sky, hungry for what focuses on the terror of normality, prising back its veneer of respectability to reveal the hostility and menace seething beneath.
Dreams in times of war : stories / Soñar en tiempos de guerra : cuentos by
In twelve stories, Dreams in Times of War / Soñar en tiempos de guerra brilliantly fictionalizes the lives of Latinx immigrants in the United States. The stories explore themes of violence including toxic masculinity, domestic abuse, and (trans)gender discrimination but also the alternative communities the characters form that offer solidarity and hope. Readers will celebrate this unflinching but heartfelt look at diverse immigrant experiences in the twenty-first century United States.
Las niñas Del Naranjel / We Are Green and Trembling by
Abordaje lírico e irreverente del personaje histórico de la Monja Alférez, que nació en España como niña en 1592 y se sumó travestida como varón a la Conquista de América. "Tan aguda, tan urgente, tan valiente. Gabriela Cabezón Cámara es una de las voces más auténticas escribiendo en español en este momento, y de todos sus talentos hay uno cada día más difícil: no solo hurga y desafía, no solo se anima a la oscuridad, sino que entrega a cambio la subversiva valentía de pensarnos más humanos, más vivos y luminosos que nunca". Samanta Schweblin. Para cumplirle a su Virgen del naranjel --lo ha salvado de la horca-- Antonio huye con dos niñas famélicas. En la selva, tan viva como un animal hecho de muchos, comienza una carta a su tía, priora del convento del que escapó siendo novicia. Arriero, tendero, soldado, grumete y paje, ha empuñado la espada y hundido la daga. Ahora debe cuidar de una manada y de Michi y Mitãkuña, que lo interrumpen una y otra vez con sus preguntas difíciles. La autora encuentra en Catalina de Erauso, la legendaria Monja Alférez, quien narre la cruel destrucción de América y le permita avanzar contra los géneros. Donde la avaricia colonial destruye, esta novela monumental funda una nueva gramática amorosa en la que el cine de Miyazaki, los rezos en latín, las canciones en vasco y las palabras del guaraní rompen la métrica del Siglo de Oro.
To keep his vow to Our Lady of the Orange Grove —who saved him from the noose— Antonio flees with two starving girls. In the jungle, he begins writing a letter to his aunt, the prioress of the convent he escaped as a youth. He has been a mule driver, shopkeeper, soldier, cabin boy and page; he has wielded his sword and slashed with his dagger. Now he has a flock to tend, as well as Michi and Mitãkuña, who pester him constantly with hard-to-answer questions. In Catalina de Erauso, the legendary Lieutenant Nun, the author finds a unique narrator for the destruction of the Americas and a breaker of gender stereotypes. Where colonial greed destroys, this monumental novel builds a new language of love. With influences as varied as the films of Miyazaki, Latin prayers, Basque songs and terms borrowed from Guaraní, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara crafts new rhythms that transcend the bounds of Golden Age Spanish poetry.
To keep his vow to Our Lady of the Orange Grove —who saved him from the noose— Antonio flees with two starving girls. In the jungle, he begins writing a letter to his aunt, the prioress of the convent he escaped as a youth. He has been a mule driver, shopkeeper, soldier, cabin boy and page; he has wielded his sword and slashed with his dagger. Now he has a flock to tend, as well as Michi and Mitãkuña, who pester him constantly with hard-to-answer questions. In Catalina de Erauso, the legendary Lieutenant Nun, the author finds a unique narrator for the destruction of the Americas and a breaker of gender stereotypes. Where colonial greed destroys, this monumental novel builds a new language of love. With influences as varied as the films of Miyazaki, Latin prayers, Basque songs and terms borrowed from Guaraní, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara crafts new rhythms that transcend the bounds of Golden Age Spanish poetry.
The politics of care work : Puerto Rican women organizing for social justice by
In The Politics of Care Work, Emma Amador tells the story of Puerto Rican women's involvement in political activism for social and economic justice in Puerto Rico and the United States throughout the twentieth century. Amador focuses on the experiences and contributions of Puerto Rican social workers, care workers, and caregivers who fought for the compensation of reproductive labor in society and the establishment of social welfare programs. These activists believed conflicts over social reproduction and care work were themselves high-stakes class struggles for women, migrants, and people of color. In Puerto Rico, they organized for women's rights, socialism, labor standards, and Puerto Rican independence. They continued this work in the United States by advocating for migrant rights, participating in the Civil Rights movement, and joining Puerto Rican-led social movements. Amador shows how their relentless efforts gradually shifted the field of social work toward social justice and community-centered activism. Their profound and enduring impact on Puerto Rican communities underscores the crucial role of Puerto Rican women's caregiving labor and activism in building and sustaining migrant communities.
Recién terminada la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en un Berlín arrasado y sin futuro aparente, Victoria sobrevive cantando cada noche en el club Kassandra. Pese a tener una mente prodigiosa, capaz de crear un poderoso sistema de cifrado de mensajes, su hija Hedy y su hermana Rebecca dependen de ese mísero sueldo para sobrevivir. Un chantaje sin escrúpulos por parte de los rusos obligará a Victoria a viajar sola a Estados Unidos, donde, sin embargo, disfrutará del amor incondicional del capitán Norton. Allí descubrirá que la que parecía la sociedad más democrática del mundo esconde una rancia capa de racismo e injusticias de la mano del Ku Klux Klan y el senador McCarthy.
Fresh from the end of World War II, in a devastated Berlin with no apparent future, Victoria survives by singing every night at the Kassandra club. Despite having a prodigious mind, capable of creating a powerful message encryption system, her daughter Hedy and her sister Rebecca depend on that meager salary to survive. Unscrupulous blackmail by the Russians will force Victoria to travel alone to the United States, where, however, she will enjoy the unconditional love of Captain Norton. There she will discover that what seemed to be the most democratic society in the world hides a rancid layer of racism and injustice at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan and Senator McCarthy.
Fresh from the end of World War II, in a devastated Berlin with no apparent future, Victoria survives by singing every night at the Kassandra club. Despite having a prodigious mind, capable of creating a powerful message encryption system, her daughter Hedy and her sister Rebecca depend on that meager salary to survive. Unscrupulous blackmail by the Russians will force Victoria to travel alone to the United States, where, however, she will enjoy the unconditional love of Captain Norton. There she will discover that what seemed to be the most democratic society in the world hides a rancid layer of racism and injustice at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan and Senator McCarthy.
El albatros negro / the black albatross by
Uno de los tesoros más codiciados y enigmáticos del mundo submarino se esconde en las profundidades del océano Atlántico. Una anciana historiadora naval podría tener la clave para rescatarlo, pero muere de repente en extrañas circunstancias. Pietro Rivas, un subinspector que acaba de llegar a la ciudad, será el encargado de investigar el caso junto con Nagore Freire, una extravagante inspectora de Patrimonio. Cuando las muertes comienzan a sucederse, la policía descubre que la clave para resolverlas reside en la historia del galeón Albatros Negro. Y en cómo en el año 1700, en la antigua villa amurallada de Vigo, una joven entomóloga fue capaz de cambiar con su audacia el curso de la historia.
One of the most coveted and enigmatic treasures from the underwater world lies hidden in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. An elderly navy historian might hold the clue to its rescue, but she dies suddenly, under strange circumstances. Pietro Rivas, a recently arrived sub-inspector, is charged with investigating the case, together with Nagore Freire, a flamboyant Heritage inspector.
After a succession of deaths, the police learn that the key to solve all the murders resides in the history of a galleon, the Black Albatross, and in how, in the year 1700, at the old walled villa of Vigo, a young entomologist was bold enough to change the course of history.
One of the most coveted and enigmatic treasures from the underwater world lies hidden in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. An elderly navy historian might hold the clue to its rescue, but she dies suddenly, under strange circumstances. Pietro Rivas, a recently arrived sub-inspector, is charged with investigating the case, together with Nagore Freire, a flamboyant Heritage inspector.
After a succession of deaths, the police learn that the key to solve all the murders resides in the history of a galleon, the Black Albatross, and in how, in the year 1700, at the old walled villa of Vigo, a young entomologist was bold enough to change the course of history.
Monstruos bajo la lluvia / Monsters in the Rain by
La mayoría de los cuentos de Monstruos bajo la lluvia de Larissa Rú abordan el terror en sus múltiples formas: desde una aproximación al género desde una perspectiva más realista como “El soplón”, donde podemos ver una monstrificación de lo social o una horrorización de lo familiar, hasta “La cabeza verde” y “Cuencas (los ojos de Saturno)”, donde somos parte de un fenómeno sobrenatural personificado en entidades monstruosas que parecen proponer soluciones escalofriantes a los problemas de las protagonistas. Además, las personas que se adentren en este libro encontrarán reescrituras de algunos cuentos de hadas, es el caso de “El cuarto de los conejos”, “Los cerdos de la mansión Akerman” y “Sílfide”, donde la autora utiliza el terreno de la fantasía para mostrar la crueldad de la familia o de las relaciones de pareja.
Cierra el libro el cuento “Vanidades”, donde se explora el horror creepypasta, que además puede leerse como una alegoría al horizonte de expectativas que la sociedad impone al cuerpo de las mujeres. En resumen, este libro permite al público costarricense acceder a una literatura hecha en nuestro territorio que se emparenta con lo que están produciendo autoras como Mariana Enríquez o Giovanna Rivero en el campo de la ficción especulativa latinoamericana.
Most of the stories in Monsters in the Rain by Larissa Rú address horror in its many forms: from an approach to the genre from a more realistic perspective like “The Informant,” where we see a monstrification of the social or a horrification of the familiar, to “The Green Head” and “Cuencas (the eyes of Saturn),” where we are part of a supernatural phenomenon personified in monstrous entities that seem to propose chilling solutions to the protagonists' problems. In addition, people who delve into this book will find rewritings of some fairy tales, as is the case of “The Rabbit Room,” “The Pigs of the Akerman Mansion,” and “Sylph,” where the author uses the terrain of fantasy to show the cruelty of the family or of relationships.
The book closes with the story “Vanities,” which explores creepypasta horror and can also be read as an allegory for the horizon of expectations that society imposes on women's bodies. In short, This book allows the Costa Rican public to access literature made in our territory that is related to what authors such as Mariana Enríquez or Giovanna Rivero are producing in the field of Latin American speculative fiction.
Cierra el libro el cuento “Vanidades”, donde se explora el horror creepypasta, que además puede leerse como una alegoría al horizonte de expectativas que la sociedad impone al cuerpo de las mujeres. En resumen, este libro permite al público costarricense acceder a una literatura hecha en nuestro territorio que se emparenta con lo que están produciendo autoras como Mariana Enríquez o Giovanna Rivero en el campo de la ficción especulativa latinoamericana.
Most of the stories in Monsters in the Rain by Larissa Rú address horror in its many forms: from an approach to the genre from a more realistic perspective like “The Informant,” where we see a monstrification of the social or a horrification of the familiar, to “The Green Head” and “Cuencas (the eyes of Saturn),” where we are part of a supernatural phenomenon personified in monstrous entities that seem to propose chilling solutions to the protagonists' problems. In addition, people who delve into this book will find rewritings of some fairy tales, as is the case of “The Rabbit Room,” “The Pigs of the Akerman Mansion,” and “Sylph,” where the author uses the terrain of fantasy to show the cruelty of the family or of relationships.
The book closes with the story “Vanities,” which explores creepypasta horror and can also be read as an allegory for the horizon of expectations that society imposes on women's bodies. In short, This book allows the Costa Rican public to access literature made in our territory that is related to what authors such as Mariana Enríquez or Giovanna Rivero are producing in the field of Latin American speculative fiction.
Una Mujer Insignificante / an Insignificant Woman by
Pido perdón por lo que a continuación voy a relatar, pregunto. Aunque, ¿a quién podría ya pedirle perdón? No tengo inclinación a hablar con gente muerta, me espanta la posibilidad de que me respondan. Me rindo. Acepto que hay algo impúdico en contar la vida de quien mantuvo su intimidad bajo llave. Así que me aguanto. Y no pido perdón. Ni me perdono.
Una carta atraviesa el océano y trastorna la rígida estabilidad de un hogar. Se desencadena un caos fabuloso de vino, música, risas, que va sacando a flote las heridas y frustraciones de una mujer que nunca fue la persona más importante para nadie. Esta es su historia, la vida de la madre de la narradora.
Catalina Murillo te lo cuenta al oído, te va envolviendo en esa narración que construye con la cercanía de la oralidad. Su prosa evidencia la calidad literaria de una escritora potente que convierte una historia íntima en experiencia colectiva. Corazón y cerebro, humor y dolor. Sin dramatismo ni cinismo, van emergiendo grandes temas, la relación madre-hija, la “hijidad”, y la pregunta siempre abierta: amor, qué es eso. O qué era. Y qué será.
Please forgive me for what I’m about to say. But I wonder, whom should I ask for that forgiveness? I’m not one to talk to dead people; I’m too afraid they might answer. I give up. I accept that there’s something improper about telling the story of someone who kept their intimacy under lock and key. So, I’ll push on. And I won’t ask for forgiveness. Or forgive myself.
A letter crosses the ocean and upends the stable order of a household. A fabulous chaos ensues, a flood of wine, music and laughter that channels the hurt and frustration of a woman who was never anyone’s top priority. That woman is the narrator’s mother.
Catalina Murillo engrosses the reader in a narrative that has the intimacy of a story read aloud. In so doing, she reveals herself to be a powerful storyteller who turns a personal account into a collective experience. Heart and mind, humor and pain. Major themes emerge, without drama or cynicism: the mother-daughter relationship, childhood, and the eternal question: What is love? Or better, what was it? And what will it be?
Una carta atraviesa el océano y trastorna la rígida estabilidad de un hogar. Se desencadena un caos fabuloso de vino, música, risas, que va sacando a flote las heridas y frustraciones de una mujer que nunca fue la persona más importante para nadie. Esta es su historia, la vida de la madre de la narradora.
Catalina Murillo te lo cuenta al oído, te va envolviendo en esa narración que construye con la cercanía de la oralidad. Su prosa evidencia la calidad literaria de una escritora potente que convierte una historia íntima en experiencia colectiva. Corazón y cerebro, humor y dolor. Sin dramatismo ni cinismo, van emergiendo grandes temas, la relación madre-hija, la “hijidad”, y la pregunta siempre abierta: amor, qué es eso. O qué era. Y qué será.
Please forgive me for what I’m about to say. But I wonder, whom should I ask for that forgiveness? I’m not one to talk to dead people; I’m too afraid they might answer. I give up. I accept that there’s something improper about telling the story of someone who kept their intimacy under lock and key. So, I’ll push on. And I won’t ask for forgiveness. Or forgive myself.
A letter crosses the ocean and upends the stable order of a household. A fabulous chaos ensues, a flood of wine, music and laughter that channels the hurt and frustration of a woman who was never anyone’s top priority. That woman is the narrator’s mother.
Catalina Murillo engrosses the reader in a narrative that has the intimacy of a story read aloud. In so doing, she reveals herself to be a powerful storyteller who turns a personal account into a collective experience. Heart and mind, humor and pain. Major themes emerge, without drama or cynicism: the mother-daughter relationship, childhood, and the eternal question: What is love? Or better, what was it? And what will it be?
Ten-year-old Lola has always been touched by magic. In her Mexico City home, built around a towering tree, she is accustomed to enchanted blooms that change with the seasons, a sandbox that spits out mysterious treasures, and mischievous chaneques that scuttle about unseen by all but her. Magic has always been a part of her life, but now she must embrace the extraordinary as never before.
Ever since The Thing That Happened, Lola’s brother Alex has been sick. As his condition worsens, something begins eating away at the tree, causing its leaves and blossoms to crumble like ash. The two are related, Lola is sure of it, but how? Seeking a cure, she visits a grocery store oracle who bids her to follow the chaneques down one of their secret passages… into a hidden world.
Here in Floresta, a land of myths and monsters and marvels untold, lies the key to healing her brother. But the kingdom’s young queen stands in the way. Lola must use her wits and face her deepest fears if there’s any hope of saving Alex in time.
Ever since The Thing That Happened, Lola’s brother Alex has been sick. As his condition worsens, something begins eating away at the tree, causing its leaves and blossoms to crumble like ash. The two are related, Lola is sure of it, but how? Seeking a cure, she visits a grocery store oracle who bids her to follow the chaneques down one of their secret passages… into a hidden world.
Here in Floresta, a land of myths and monsters and marvels untold, lies the key to healing her brother. But the kingdom’s young queen stands in the way. Lola must use her wits and face her deepest fears if there’s any hope of saving Alex in time.
Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. She’s at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnant—by the boyfriend she hasn’t told her parents about, because he’s Black, and her parents are racist.
Things are hella complicated.
Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of class. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?
From debut author Carolina Ixta comes a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.
Things are hella complicated.
Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of class. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?
From debut author Carolina Ixta comes a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.
Almudena has always wondered about the dad she never met. Now, with her white mother headed on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, she's left alone with her Guatemalan father for an entire summer. Xavier seems happy to see her, but he expects her to live in (and help fix up) his old, broken-down brownstone. And all along, she must navigate the language barrier of his rapid-fire Spanish -- which she doesn't speak. As Almudena tries to adjust to this new reality, she gets to know the residents of Xavier's Latin American neighborhood. Each member of the community has their own joys and heartbreaks as well as their own strong opinions on how this young Latina should talk, dress, and behave. Some can't understand why she doesn't know where she comes from. Others think she's "not brown enough" to fit in. But time is running out for Almudena and Xavier to get to know each other, and the key to their connection may ultimately lie in bringing all these different elements together. Fixing a broken building is one thing, but turning these stubborn individuals into a found family might take more than this one summer.
En Agosto Nos Vemos / until August by (Spanish Edition)
Cada mes de agosto Ana Magdalena Bach toma el transbordador hasta la isla donde está enterrada su madre para visitar la tumba en la que yace. Esas visitas acaban suponiendo una irresistible invitación a convertirse en una persona distinta durante una noche al año. Escrita en el inconfundible y fascinante estilo de García Márquez, En agosto nos vemos es un canto a la vida, a la resistencia del goce pese al paso del tiempo y al deseo femenino. Un regalo inesperado de uno de los escritores más queridos de nuestra lengua.
Until August by (English Edition)
Sitting alone beside the languorous blue waters of the lagoon, Ana Magdalena Bach contemplates the men at the hotel bar. She has been happily married for twenty-seven years and has no reason to escape the life she has made with her husband and children. And yet, every August, she travels by ferry here to the island where her mother is buried, and for one night takes a new lover. Across sultry Caribbean evenings full of salsa and boleros, lotharios and conmen, Ana journeys further each year into the hinterland of her desire and the fear hidden in her heart. Constantly surprising, joyously sensual, Until August is a profound meditation on freedom, regret, self-transformation, and the mysteries of love--an unexpected gift from one of the greatest writers the world has ever known.
The cemetery of untold stories : a novel by
When celebrated writer Alma Cruz inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, she turns it into a place to bury her untold stories--literally. She creates a graveyard for manuscript drafts and revisions and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her. Alma wants her characters to rest in peace, but they have other ideas, and the cemetery becomes a mysterious sanctuary for their true narratives.
A bilingual anthology, Fierce Voice / Voz feroz features Argentine and Uruguayan women poets published after their countries’ return to democracy in the eighties. These twenty-six poets introduced innovative, invigorating styles and established new directions in literature, providing an essential addition to the development of Latin American poetry. This anthology includes established poets as well as emerging poets just gaining attention in their countries and abroad. Fierce Voice / Voz feroz serves to showcase their work and give an English-speaking readership the opportunity to experience the breadth and power of this fierce talent.