Palabra Power: 10 Latina Authors You Need to Know

Credit: BELatina/BrandStar

Every few years when you least expect it a new crop of talented Latina authors who’ve dedicated tumultuous years honing their craft and writing in solitude, finally give birth to debut works that begin to slowly get noticed by U.S. readers and thus catch on fire.

Who are some of these essential Latina writers breaking into the national literary landscape at the moment? The following ten writers have demanded that the world take notice of their fierceness on the page. In the descriptions below you’ll see how the zeitgeist in Latina literature is not only centered on identity anymore but in the world of young adult fiction, science fiction, dystopian futures and fantasy settings. There are also unabashed queer stories, erotica scenes, and even one author writing for Marvel comics about a Latina superhero named none other than America.

5 Elizabeth Acevedo

Elizabeth Acevedo Julia Alvarez
Photo Credit IG @acevodwrites

In buzz talk she’s known as that fierce National Poetry Slam Champion who won the National Book Award with her commercially successful debut YA novel, Poet X (HarperCollins, 2018). Born in New York to Dominican immigrants, Acevedo created an ingenious poetic narrative to tell the story of Xiomara Batista, a teen trying to find her voice amid overwhelming expectations set by her religious mother and by a conservative Latino society. But she first gained a following in 2016 with Beastgirl, a poetry collection which Acevedo has described as “contemplations on Caribbean womanhood,” with ruminations on Dominican folklore and sexuality. Her soon to be released YA novel With the Fire on High (May, 2019) is about a teen mother, who’s also a chef, during her senior year in a Philadelphia high school. She’s trying to figure out what it means when all her classmates are being told to “follow their dreams,” and how this applies to her since she already has someone depending on her. She simply can’t make the wrong choice.