Great Hispanic authors blend experiences with folk influences, and draw upon their core values to create vivid stories. While many have received wide acclaim for their works, there is a lot of great Hispanic literature that is overlooked in the States. Here are five remarkable Hispanic authors that everyone should know right now, alongside their best known works.
Junot Díaz
Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States at a very young age. Díaz grew up with a passion for pop culture. His writing takes inspiration both from his Dominican roots as well as his memories growing up in New Jersey. He first found success in the literary world with his collection of short stories, Drown.
Díaz genuinely expresses his own hardships and experiences through the titular protagonist in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows a “nerd from the ghetto” of Jersey. The boy aspires to be a great writer akin to J.R.R. Tolkien, but is burdened by a curse that’s been passed down his family for generations. The curse brings misfortune to each member of the family, and prevents Oscar from finding love. The angst of adolescence portrayed through the lens of magical realism adds an interesting twist to this coming-of-age story. The main character and his family are Dominican-American, allowing the reader an earnest and sincere view of what it was like for Díaz growing up.
Díaz is unabashed in his self-expression, something evident throughout his portfolio. He often transforms the traumatic experiences of his life into relatable narratives. These are focused more on finding beauty in the ugliness of reality than painting a far-away fantasy. This is How You Lose Her, a New York Times Bestseller, continues the themes of young love’s clumsiness which Díaz portrays with that same down-to-earth rawness. Rather than any sort of structured epic, the gold of Díaz’s work lies in how effortlessly he commands the reader to self-reflect.
Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende is a hugely prominent Chilean author who has sold over 75 million books in her career. Growing up in Chile with a typical patriarchal family structure, Allende was motivated from a young age to make the world a better place. This lifelong feminist has a sharp wit and self-assured nature that shines in all aspects of her work. Before becoming a novelist, Allende co-founded the magazine Paula, which she used as a conduit to write satire about the patriarchy.
Allende’s debut novel, The House of the Spirits, chronicles three generations of the Trueba family in a country that is teeming with magic. Patriarch Esteban’s political ambitions and conservative ideals conflict with the rebellious whims of the four female protagonists. In a cyclical narrative spanning multiple generations, wives daughters and granddaughters are challenged by society’s expectations for upper class women. Their country evolves alongside them, a political split which eventually leads to rebellion. It is an epic tale on all levels, detailing the crisis of self as well as the crisis of society.
According to her interview for Harvard Business Review, this novel helped Allende grieve over her recently-deceased daughter. It was also born of a desire to reconnect with her family in Chile after the 1973 military coup. Allende’s experiences and values bleed into all of her stories. Her narratives center on complex, tragic and influential characters. They are about delicate regimes, the hierarchies on which they are built, and the alliances that bring them down. The full list of Allende’s 26 books and summaries for each can be found on her website.
Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros was born and raised in Chicago, the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She has six siblings, of which she is the only girl. Cisneros had a passion for writing from an early age. She was a quiet child who desperately sought quietude living in a hectic house. Her works include poetry, novels, and children’s books. Cisneros enjoys working in education as a teacher, councilor and college recruiter.
The House on Mango Street encapsulates Cisneros’ focus on writing through the lens of childhood. Rather than a classic narrative with a defined plot, this book is a series of moments from the life of Esperanza Cordero, a girl growing up in Chicago. The collection of vignettes illustrates the joyous isolation of childhood, uncaring to the world outside one’s own universe. The exploits of Esperanza’s family, neighbors and friends are fleeting and varied. In essence, The House on Mango Street reads much like an adult’s reflection on childhood. Her memories serve as the connecting tissue throughout, illustrating how the protagonist grows into a young adult.
Themes of familial love and memory are present in all of Cisneros’ pieces. They are stories of individuals and their close relationships portrayed with tenderness and intimacy. Puro Amor and Martita, I Remember You are two other novels of hers that celebrate the power of human connection. Cisneros embraces her roots in Caramelo, the story of a young Mexican girl learning about her family’s history.
Read more about her and other famous Hispanic authors in this Bookstr article.
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez is considered a legend among magical-realist authors in Latin American fiction. This Nobel-prize winner is often compared to Hemmingway and Dickens. Márquez was born to a large impoverished family in the rural tropics of Columbia. He went on to study law before changing course and pursuing a career in journalism. Márquez was inspired to be a storyteller by listening to his grandmother’s stories as a boy.
Drawing from his strong left-wing ideals and the myths of his youth, Márquez’ 1967 novel would become his most famous. 100 Years of Solitude chronicles the history of a town called Macando. José Buendía and his family have migrated from their home to the Colombian jungle where the patriarch establishes a “city of mirrors.” Throughout the story, each generation is served fortunes and misfortunes through strange supernatural events. Macando is then exposed to the outside world, facing a country-wide revolution and the encroachment of American business.
This masterpiece of magical realist literature centers on common themes of its genre. There is a cyclical nature to the family drama spanning multiple generations. Their goals are always prone to the fatalism of ideology. Additionally, Márquez speaks to the illusion of the American dream and the pursuit of utopia. While themes of oppression and magic remain Márquez’ signature, his body of work is quite varied. His wild and imaginative prose always gives life to the worlds he creates.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a prominent figure in speculative fiction, specializing in dark fantasy, horror, and historical fiction. Born and raised in Mexico, she now lives in Canada. Though she has fully embraced Canada’s book culture, Moreno-Garcia takes primary inspiration from the folk stories she was told by her grandmother as a child. She is a feminist and an advocate for greater minority representation in literature.
Her 2020 novel Mexican Gothic found acclaim in the fiction world for its Latin twist on a classic genre. The story details the exploits of Noemi Taboada, a young fiery debutante. Upon receiving a frightened letter from her newly-married cousin, Noemi goes to the cousin’s home to investigate. “High Place”, the title of the estate, seems to be haunted by a mysterious energy. Noemi must contend with the dangerous and alluring men of the house, as well as strange visions of blood and death. This tale of romance blooming in a scary mansion is a love letter to gothic literature, with the author’s signature twist.
Moreno-Garcia’s unique adoration for horror sets her apart as a writer. Moreno-Garcia’s antithetical enjoyment of classic horror tropes stems from identifying with the freaks. Her experiences as a woman of color gives authenticity to her own gallery of fictional outliers. Throughout her works, the young female protagonists must battle both conformity and their own inner darkness to prevail. The heroine often finds a kindred spirit who shares her loneliness, a sensuous bond between misfits. In Moreno-Garcia’s latest novel, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, the author continues her tradition of spicing up familiar horror stories.
Hispanic literature contains a plethora of powerful themes and epic sagas. These authors have established themselves as global icons of great fiction, but they are by no means singularities. Hispanic authors continue to write some of the most influential books of all time. Check them out today!