Irene Vilar (born c. 1969) is a Puerto Rican American editor, literary agent, environmental advocate, and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of several books dealing with national and generational trauma and women's

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest o ...

Biography

Born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico in 1969, Vilar is the granddaughter of

Puerto Rican nationalist Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to obtain independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire from 1493 to 1898 and since then from the United States. A spectrum of pro- autonomy, ...

Lolita Lebrón Lolita Lebrón (November 19, 1919 – August 1, 2010) was a Puerto Rican nationalist who was convicted of attempted murder and other crimes after carrying out an armed attack on the United States Capitol in 1954, which resulted in the wound ...

, who participated in an assault on the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 1954.''Memoir of a former abortion addict''
from the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' 13 October 2009 After her mother's suicide in 1977, she attended boarding school in New Hampshire at age 15 before enrolling at Syracuse University where she married her literature professor, Pedro Cuperman.''Death Threats, Hate Mail for 'Abortion Addict' Author''
from ''

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

'' 14 October 2009 Her work '' The Ladies' Gallery: A Memoir of Family Secrets'' (originally published in 1996) was a ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' and ''Detroit Free Press'' notable book of the year, a finalist for the Mind Book of the Year Award and the Latino Book Award. Her memoir, ''Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict'' (published in 2009), revealed that the author had 15 abortions in 17 years. Vilar received death threats after its publication. It won the 2010 IPPY Gold Medal for Best Memoir/Autobiography and the 12th Latino Book 2nd Place Award for Best Women’s Issues. She founded her own literary agency, Vilar Creative Agency, and serves as a co-agent in the United States for Ray-Gude Mertin Literary Agency, an agency specializing in Spanish, Latin American, and Portuguese authors, which represented writers as 1998

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureate

Jose Saramago Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

. In 2007, Vilar founded the Colorado and Puerto Rico based non-profit Americas for Conservation + the Arts and is its current executive director. In 2010, Vilar was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship for her nonfiction writing. Also that year, she gave the keynote at the 2010 National Convention of State Senators and Legislators Hispanic Caucus on Latino Mental Health, “Severe Depressive Disorder: Overcoming Adversity and Stigma” where she talks about the trauma she experienced growing up and in her marriage. She serves on the advisory council of the Colorado Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry and the Green Leadership Trust. After

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

in 2017, Vilar founded the Resilience Fund through her non-profit to help farmers restore their farms.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilar, Irene 1969 births Living people People from Arecibo, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican self-help writers Puerto Rican women writers American memoirists American women memoirists Syracuse University alumni