The Richness of Puerto Rican Literature
Puerto Rican literature is about as old as the country itself. Early settlers would spend many hours describing their surroundings and experiences in this newly found country with picturesque and flowery language. Spanish writers like Fray Tomas de la Torre and Gonzalo Fernandez are high on the list of noteworthy literates.
The Spanish-American war in 1898 swung the direction of Puerto Rican literature almost 180 degrees. Known as the Generation of ’98, many writers in this period chose to record details of the problems that arose when traditional Hispanic inhabitants of Puerto Rico tried to resist the eventual Americanization of the island. Luis Bonafoux and Federico Degetau are two of the many writers that followed this style of literature. Poets like Virgilio Davila and Luis Llorens Torres also put their poetic feelings on paper during this historical period.
Pedro Juan Soto is probably one of the more well known Puerto Rican writers because of his published works like ‘Spiks’ in 1956. Soto taught English in New York and was a bilingual writer who made a good name for himself during his lifetime.
