Mayra Santos-Febres (born 1966 in Carolina) is a Puerto Rican author, poet, novelist, professor of literature, essayist, and literary critic and author of children's books. Her work focuses on themes of race, diaspora identity, female sexuality, gender fluidity, desire, and power. She is a cultural activist who helps to bring books to young readers and the less fortunate. Her writings have been translated into French, English, German, and Italian.

Early life

Santos-Febres was born in 1966 to parents who were both schoolteachers. Her mother, Mariana Febres Falu was an Elementary School teacher of Spanish. Her father, Juan Santos Hernandez, was a high school teacher of Puerto Rican History. He was also a baseball player. Later, he became the Director of Sports and Recreation Department in the township of Carolina, Puerto Rico. Mayra Santos-Febres began writing at the age of five because her asthma did not permit her to "climb trees or ride bikes like the kids in the neighborhood." She states that her disability, combined with her educator parents' knack for keeping books in the house, catapulted her into the beginnings of her writing career. At the age of fifteen, after writing poetry for ten years, she was encouraged to take her writing seriously by Ivonn Sanavitis, the only female teacher who was not a nun at her Catholic school Colegio Lourdes, Puerto Rico.

Education and academic work

Santos-Febres completed her undergraduate work at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

in 1991 and currently holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

. She has been a visiting professor at Rutgers University, Harvard university and Cornell University as well as at Complutese University in Spain and in Valle del Cacua University in Cali, Colombia

Career and literary work

While still an undergraduate at the

, Santos-Febres had her work published in magazines and journal reviews such as ''

Casa de las Américas Casa de las Américas is an organization that was founded by the Cuban Government in April 1959, four months after the Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which ...

'' in Cuba, ''Página doce'' in Argentina, ''Revue Noire'' in France and ''Review: Latin American Literature and Arts'', in New York. Santos-Febres acknowledged in El País the Puerto Rican narrators who influenced her career: “I come from a long tradition of women writers, Rosario Ferré,

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...

, Ana Lydia Vega. Mayra Santos-Febres got a bachelor's degree in Hispanic Studies, from the

which she graduated with high honors in 1987.” In 1991, Santos-Febres published her first two collections of poetry, ''Anamu y manigua'' and ''El orden escapado'', to critical acclaim. In 1994, Santos-Febres won the Letras de Oro literary prize for her collection of short stories ''Pez de Vidrio.'' "Oso Blanco," a short story from this collection, also won the Juan Rulfo Prize in 1996. ''Pez de Vidrio'' (''Urban Oracles'') contains 15 short stories about the complicated relationships between sexuality, race, gender identity, social status, and political status in modern Caribbean society. Santos-Febres' first novel was ''Sirena Selena vestida de pena'' (Spain: Grijalbo Mondadori, 2000) about a teenaged

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

who works in the streets and sings

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

s. A finalist for the 2001 Rómulo Gallego’s Prize for the Novel, it won the PEN Club of Puerto Rico’s prize for Best Novel. Random House Mondadori published her second novel, ''Cualquier miércoles soy tuya'', in 2002. Cualquier Miercoles Soy Tuya (Any Wednesday I'm yours) was also translated in English and was published by Penguin Books in 2002. Her third novel, ''Nuestra Señora de las noche'' (Rayo/HarperCollins, 2008), was a finalist for the Premio Primavera Literary Award and won Puerto Rico’s 2007 Premio Nacional de Literatura. Her other novels include ''Nuestra Señora de la Noche (Our Lady of the Night)'', Fe en disfraz (2009) and ''La amante de Gardel'' (2015). Santos-Febres teaches at the

University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus The University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras; UPR-RP, or informally La IUPI) is a public land-grant research university in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the largest campus in the Univ ...

, where she specializes in African, Caribbean, and feminist literature. She also is the Executive Director of Festival de la Palabra in Puerto Rico. She also reviews books on Univision television and hosts the Radio Universidad show En su tinta (sources?). Currently she is the Principal Investigator for PRAFRO, the AfroDiasporic and Race Studies Program at the University of Puerto Rico, founded by the Mellon Foundation. She is also a member of SCORES, Kellog Foundation's Solidarity Council for Racial Equity.

Awards and honours

* Award for poetry from Revista Tríptico in Puerto Rico 1991 * Award Letras de Oro 1994 * Award Juan Rulfo de cuentos 1996 * Award Rómulo Gallegos 2001 * Guggenheim Fellowship 2009 * long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

Bibliography

* ''Anamu y manigua'' (1990) * ''El orden escapado'' (1991) * ''Pez de vidrio'' (1994) (Winner of the

Juan Rulfo Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo ( ; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and th ...

Award) * ''El cuerpo correcto'' (1996) * ''Urban Oracles'' (1997) (English translation of ''Pez de vidrio'') * ''Sirena Selena vestida de pena'' (2000) (translated as ''Sirena Selena'', 2000) * ''Tercer mundo'' (2000) * ''Cualquier miércoles soy tuya'' (2002) (translated as ''Any Wednesday, I'm Yours'', 2005) * ''Sobre piel y papel'' (2005) * ''Boat People'' (2005) * ''Ernesto , El domador de los suenos (2008)'' * ''Nuestra Señora de la Noche'' (2006) (translated as ''Our Lady of the Night'', 2009) * ''Fe en disfraz'' (2009) * ''Tratado de Medicina Natural para Hombres Melancólicos'' (2011) * ''El baile de la vida (2012)'' * ''La amante de Gardel'' (2015)

References

External links

Interview with the Author

Mayra Santos-Febres's Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos-Febres, Mayra 1966 births Living people People from Carolina, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican poets University of Puerto Rico alumni Cornell University alumni University of Puerto Rico faculty Puerto Rican LGBT writers American lesbian writers Puerto Rican women writers American LGBT poets American women poets 21st-century American poets American women academics 21st-century American women writers