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.

9Gabby Rivera

Gabby Rivera IG @quirkyrican Belatina
Photo Credit IG @quirkyrican

Rivera is breaking mainstream barriers globally as Marvel’s first Latina lesbian writer for its first Latina superhero America Chavez. Her superhero is a one-liner dropping, thick browed- lipped-and-thigh-ed superhero, also breaking barriers as Marvel’s first comic series centered on a female superhero who also happens to be queer. The pairing of the two was a marriage made in comic book heaven. Rivera first gained indie darling fame for her critically acclaimed 2016 young adult novel, Juliet Takes a Breath (Riverdale Avenue Books), about a young Puerto Rican lesbian from the Bronx trying to answer questions about her identity and sexual background. Teen Vogue wrote of the “America” Marvel series: “Like any teen, America has to deal with relationship woes, struggles with friends, and the discovery of who she wants to be while at college, even though she’s a superhero in charge of her own elite team. It’s this interweaving of her many layers that helps make America authentic and unforgettable. With top-notch art and storytelling.”