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12 Must-Read Latino Authors

The works of these writers open a window into the U.S. Hispanic experience

spinner image collection of books by Latin American authors
GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHING; VINTAGE ESPAÑOL; SIRUELA; ALIANZA EDITORIAL; BALLANTINE BOOKS; VINTAGE ESPAÑOL

Books written by Latino authors in the United States offer us a wide range of voices, themes, and styles — from magical realism to the starkest urban reality. With varying degrees of familiarity in both languages, these writers no longer hide their bilingualism, blending Spanish and English seamlessly, shamelessly and often without quotation marks. And their talents have been amply recognized — Pulitzer Prizes, MacArthur fellowships, Guggenheim fellowships and presidential medals.

Among so much talent, we have focused on 12 writers who have broken barriers, opened doors, raised bars or continue to explore the vexing issues that Latinos face in the 21st century. This list serves as a starting point for the uninitiated, and as a reminder for those who have already lost themselves in the magical worlds these authors have created over the years.​ Writers are listed in chronological order according to birthdate.​ ​

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Rudolfo Anaya (1937-2020)

spinner image author rudolfo anaya and cover of his book bless me ultima
Adan Anaya / Grand Central Publishing

Long considered the father of Chicano literature in English, Anaya wrote novels, children’s books — such as La Llorona: The Crying Woman and The Farolitos of Christmas — and even plays, but he is most well-known for Bless Me, Ultima. When that novel was published, in 1972, it was lauded by critics as “avant-garde” and “extraordinary” for the way it dealt with issues of identity and Chicano culture; until then, these had not been part of the U.S. literary canon. Anaya, who was born in New Mexico in 1937 and died just last year, did not have a formal education in creative writing. That is why — as he recounts in the introduction of his first book — it took him seven drafts and late-night pounding on an old Smith Corona typewriter to get it published. The novel is about the impact the healer Ultima had on a man's life and how she helped him to discover himself and the secrets buried in his Latin soul.

Isabel Allende (born 1942)

spinner image author isabel allende and her book house of the spirits
Pierre-Philippe Marcou; Getty Images / Atria Books

Allende was already a famous Chilean author before transforming into a U.S. Latina writer upon moving to California more than 30 years ago. Without losing an ounce of the magic that had long characterized her work, Allende was able to understand the complexities of latinidad and incorporate into her novels elements of the harsh reality many Latinos face in the United States. Having written classics like The House of the SpiritsPaula, and Inés of My Soul, Allende began to write about the lives of undocumented immigrants, the drug epidemic plaguing the youth and intergenerational conflicts. Her most recent book, The Soul of a Woman, is a compelling memoir of her life as a lifelong feminist. In A Long Petal of the Sea, published right before the pandemic, Allende explores familiar themes from past works: immigration, love and war. Perhaps Allende's most important legacy has been to demonstrate that, even living in the United States, she can sell novels written in Spanish all over the world, translated into many different languages, including English.

Esmeralda Santiago (born 1948)

spinner image author esmerelda santiago and her book when i was puerto rican
ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; ZUMA PRESS, INC. / BOOK: VINTAGE ESPAÑOL

With her first memoir, When I Was Puerto Rican, Santiago introduced the Puerto Rican countryside into the collective imagination of Hispanic literature. She tells the story of her life with such specificity that it achieved universality. But she did not stop there. Santiago's readers watched her grow — as a woman and as an author — in her next two memoirs: Almost a Woman, in which she explores the trauma of immigration, and The Turkish Lover, in which she narrates the confusion and heartbreak of young love. Although Santiago has written other books, notably Conquistadora, it was her trilogy of memoirs that ensured her a place among must-read Latino authors, for giving Puerto Rico and its people the place they deserve in Hispanic literature.

​Julia Alvarez (born 1950)

spinner image author julia alvarez and her book how the garcia girls lost their accents
Algonquin Books / Brandon Cruz González/EL VOCERO DE PUERTO RICO

With her first book of interconnected stories, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, this Dominican author dove headfirst into the most complex and riveting problem those who have crossed the border face daily: How do we become part of the U.S. without losing our identities? How do we lose our accents without losing everything else? The book, published in 1991, became a point of reference among Latinos, inspiring a new generation to write about assimilation. Alvarez, who celebrated her 71st birthday in March, published a novel in 2020, Afterlife, in which she deals with the transition toward retirement and widowhood in the current political climate, addressing the fear of undocumented immigrants and the difficulties they encounter when working and living in the United States. Through her latest work, Alvarez remains current, taking notes on her own life and — with a critical eye — paying attention to the vicissitudes of U.S. society.

Oscar Hijuelos (1951-2013)

spinner image El escritor Oscar Hijuelos y la portada de su libro 'Los reyes del mambo tocan canciones de amor'.
Ulf Andersen; Getty Images/Siruela

In 1990, Hijuelos became the first Hispanic writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for his second novel, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. The prestigious award paved the road not only for him but also for other Latino authors, who until then had been mostly ignored by reviewers and publishers. Hijuelos, the son of Cuban immigrants who came to New York in the 1940s, depicts in his novels the rich world of immigrants and their struggles, a topic that resonates and holds true to this day. His protagonists are dishwashers, cooks, maids and musicians — all united by an impossible dream: to redeem themselves of the decision to leave behind their countries and the ones they love in search of a better life. His first published work, Our House in the Last World, is a meditation on the insurmountable trauma of immigration and the open wound that remains in some families because of it. Hijuelos died in 2013; contrary to many of the characters in his novels, he died in the place where he was born, the city that cradled and defined his work—New York.

Sandra Cisneros (born 1954)

spinner image La escritora Sandra Cisneros  y la portada de su libro 'La casa en Mango Street'.
Vintage Español / Leonardo Cendamo; Getty Images

This Chicago-born Chicana writer has done it all: collections of poetry, essays, short stories, novels and children’s books. But anyone new to Cisneros should consider starting at the very beginning with her seminal first novel, The House on Mango Street. Published in 1984 — and based on the difficult working-class Latino lives Cisneros witnessed as a high school counselor — this novel is told in a series of lyrical vignettes from the point of view of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl coming of age in Chicago. Since its publication, The House on Mango Street has sold over 6 million copies, been translated into more than 20 languages and become a staple in school curriculums across the country. Those wanting to get to know the author further can delve into Vintage Cisneros, a skillfully edited volume that contains excerpts from Woman Hollering CreekCaramelo, and other notable works by the MacArthur fellow winner. Cisneros’ most recent work is Martita, I Remember You, published this year, a bilingual novella that features the signature blend of lyricism and realism that has come to define Cisneros' career.

Luis Alberto Urrea (born 1955)

spinner image author luis alberto urrea and his book the house of broken angels
Little, Brown and Company / Jay L. Clendenin; Getty Images

A prolific author, Urrea was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his 2004 best seller The Devil’s Highway, based on the story of 26 men who attempted to cross the border through one of the most dangerous regions of the Arizona desert. Born in Mexico to an American mother, but raised between San Diego and Tijuana, Urrea has written novels, essays, poems and stories. In each, he explores his own circumstances as a Mexican-American, straddling both sides of the border, pulled between the magic of one country and the grim realities of immigrant life in the other. His most recent book, The House of Broken Angels, is based on the death of his older brother and is an emotional epic, written with a sense of humor and brotherly love.

Cristina García (born 1958)

spinner image author cristina garcia and her book dreaming in cuban
Ballantine Books/ Courtesy Cristina Garcia

García's first book, Dreaming in Cuban, is taught at universities across the U.S. When the book was published in 1992, García became an unexpected literary phenomenon: a debut novel written by a Latina about Latinos. The New York Times compared her to Chekhov and Gabriel García Márquez, and the story was deceptively simple: three generations of Cuban women and their reactions to the revolution that changed their lives and tore their families apart. But García’s style — sensual and musical like the best boleros — captivated readers and provided her with literary success at a young age. She has continued to write books like The Agüero Sisters and, more recently, Here in Berlin, a love song to the German capital narrated by different voices. In her books, García returns time and again to the themes of immigration and the pain of being uprooted.

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Héctor Tobar (born 1963)

spinner image author hector tobar and his book deep down dark
Picador / Jay L. Clendenin; Getty Images

A journalist born to Guatemalan immigrants in Los Angeles, Tobar uses his curiosity and profound knowledge of his city and culture to demonstrate how interwoven the stories are on either side of the Rio Grande. His most recognized work is Deep Down Dark, about the Chilean miners who, almost a decade ago, were trapped underground and rescued. His most emblematic work is The Tattooed Soldier, which navigates the choppy waters of violence in Guatemala and Los Angeles, racial tensions, gangs and the homeless.

Junot Díaz (born 1968)

spinner image author junot diaz and his book the brief wondrous life of oscar wao
Ulf Andersen; Getty Images/ Riverhead Books

While some have criticized the vulgarity with which he writes and his almost complete focus on masculine characters, many of them sexist, Díaz has said that he writes what he has lived as a poor Dominican immigrant raised on food stamps and in government subsidized housing. His mother used to clean the homes of professors from Princeton and Rutgers universities. Today Díaz is a professor at MIT; a MacArthur fellow in 2012, the year his most recent collection of short stories, This is How You Lose Her, was published; and winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in fiction, for his second novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. In his books, Díaz's characters stalk the Hispanic barrios of New Jersey like hungry wolves, trying to understand a world that has never understood them — and has rarely even bothered to try. 

Reyna Grande (born 1975)

spinner image author reyna grande and her book the distance between us
Ara Arbabzadeh/Washington Square Press

Grande’s books will break your heart. She became a household name in 2012 with her memoir, The Distance Between Us, in which she narrates her life in Mexico and the suffering she endured when her parents crossed the border into the United States and left her to live with her grandmother. The second half of her book deals with her life as an undocumented immigrant, the thread of which she picks up again in her other memoir, A Dream Called Home. Grande's story has a happy ending, but the trials and tribulations she endures on her path are heartbreaking and often feel familiar, or perhaps it’s their familiarity that makes them heartbreaking. Grande has given voice to the thousands of children who have crossed the border to be reunited with their parents.

Patricia Engel (born 1977)

spinner image author patricia engel and her book vida
Marion Ettlinger; Getty Images / Black Cat

Since the 2010 publication of Vida — her first collection of linked stories  — Patricia Engel has been praised by critics as a “wonder” who writes with a controlled, elegant and lucid voice about how the tragedies of Latin America, specifically Colombia, are interwoven with the Latin narrative in the U.S. Vida was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Fiction Award and was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her most recent book, Infinite Country, was a New York Times best seller and a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. Toward the end of the book, which is narrated in first person, the protagonist explains why she decided to write about her life: “I started writing the chronicle of our lives because it’s important to leave a record.” If that, too, is the author's intent, she has succeeded. A daughter of Colombians, Engel is a creative writing professor at the University of Miami.

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