Dr. Luis Rafael Sánchez, a.k.a. "Wico" Sánchez (November 17, 1936) is a Puerto Rican essayist,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, and short-story author who is widely considered one of the island's most outstanding contemporary

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

s. Possibly his best known play is ''La Pasión según Antígona Pérez'' (The Passion according to Antigona Perez), a

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

based on the life of Olga Viscal Garriga.

Early years

Sánchez was born and raised by his parents in the city of

Humacao, Puerto Rico Humacao () is a Humacao barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, Yabucoa; south of Naguabo, Puerto Rico, Naguabo; east of Las Pi ...

, in the eastern part of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. There he received his primary education. His family moved to San Juan, where Sánchez continued to receive his secondary and higher education. He enrolled in the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

in 1955 after graduating from high school, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. It was during his days as a student at the university that he became interested in acting."Biografía: Luis Rafael Sánchez."
Fundación Nacional para la Cultura. Accessed 2 May 2012. There he was taught by Victoria Espinosa. Sánchez's interest in

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

led him to enroll at the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

where in 1959 he earned his master's degree in dramatic arts. He eventually went to

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and earned his Doctorate in Literature in 1976 from the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

''La Pasión según Antigona Pérez''

Sánchez's best known play is ''La Pasión según Antigona Pérez'' (The Passion of Antigona Perez), a

set in present-day Latin America, suggested by

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

' '' Antigone''. The character of Antigona was based on the life of Olga Viscal Garriga (1926–1995). Her life was rooted in

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and her three children. She was a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and an accomplished speaker who spent time in jail for her political beliefs yet, she saw herself as a simple woman with simple needs. But, in fact, she was a very complex woman with many facets of her personality. The world premiere production took place in 1968 at Old San Juan's Tapia Theater, starring Myrna Vázquez as "Antigona", during the 11th Annual Puerto Rican Theater Festival."Luis Rafael Sánchez."
ENotes. Accessed 2 May 2012. A highly acclaimed all-star revival opened in 1991 at San Juan's Performing Arts Center featuring Alba Nydia Diaz as Antigona, Walter Rodriguez as Creon, Samuel Molina as Monsignor Escudero, Marian Pabon as Pilar Vargas, Noelia Crespo as Aurora, and Julia Thompson as Irene. The production, which integrated video and broadcast technology, was directed by Idalia Perez Garay for Teatro del Sesenta Theater Company. It featured original music by Pedro Rivera Toledo, sets by Checo Cuevas, and film sequences supervised by Puerto Rican filmmaker Luis Molina Casanova. A new production opened at San Juan's Performing Arts Center on April 8, 2011, featuring Yamaris Latorre as Antigona, directed by Gilberto Valenzuela for Tablado Puertorriqueño Theater Company.

''La Guaracha del Macho Camacho'' (Macho Camacho's Beat)

''La Guaracha del Macho Camacho'' (Macho Camacho's Beat) was published in 1976. This novel moves to a guaracha, a Latin rhythm, inviting readers to imagine (or learn) what this beat sounds like. It has been suggested that the song itself is the real protagonist of the tale. The Americanization of Puerto Rico is explored in this work, as well as the topic of Puerto Rican politics and the political situation of the island as a colony. One aspect of this examination can be seen as a critique of Puerto Ricans who give up their culture to assimilate into the American culture as compared to Puerto Ricans who refuse to let go of their cultural identity. The book was translated into English by Gregory Rabassa. In his essay ''"La guagua aérea"'' ("The Flying Bus"), Sánchez explores the concept of a bi-polar culture, the question of assimilation and opposition to U.S. Anglo culture. He coined the term "La guagua aérea" which has since been used by other prominent Puerto Rican authors such as

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), '' United States of Banana'' (2011), and '' Putinoika'' (2024). ...

who pays homage to Sánchez's classic essay in her Spanglish novel " Yo-Yo Boing!". He also wrote ''En cuerpo de camisa'' ("In Shirt Sleeves", 1966), a collection of short stories. Luis Rafael Sánchez is now a professor emeritus at the

and the City University of New York. He travels to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, where he has been involved in the teachings and works of theater.

Other major works

* ''Los ángeles se han fatigado'' (play, 1960) * ''Farsa del amor compradito'' (play, 1960) * ''La hiel nuestra de cada día'' (play, 1960) * ''Sol 13, interior'' (play, 1961) * ''O casi el alma'' (play, 1965) * ''En cuerpo de camisa'' (short story collection, 1966) * ''Quíntuples'' (play, 1985) * ''La importancia de llamarse Daniel Santos'' (novel, 1988) * ''No llores por nosotros Puerto Rico'' (essay collection, 1998) * ''Indiscreciones de un perro gringo'' (novel, 2007) * ''El corazón frente al mar'' (essay, 2021) * ''Escribir en puertorriqueño'' (anthology, 2024)

*Barradas, Efraín. Para leer en puertorriqueño. Río Piedras: Editorial Cultural, 1981. (In Order to Read in Puerto Rican). *Birmingham-Pokorny, Elba D. Ed. The Demythologization of Language, Gender, and Culture and the Re-Mapping of Latin American Identity in Luis Rafael Sanchez's Works. Miami: Ediciones Universal, 1999. *Colón Zayas, Eliseo. El Teatro de Luis Rafael Sánchez: Códigos, ideología y lenguaje. Madrid: Playor, 1985. (The Theater of Luis Rafael Sánchez). *Dalleo, Raphael. "Cultural Studies and the Commodified Public: Luis Rafael Sanchez's La guaracha del Macho Camacho and Earl Lovelace's The Dragon Can't Dance." Caribbean Literature and the Public Sphere: From the Plantation to the Postcolonial. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011. *Figueroa, Alvin Joaquín. La prosa de Luis Rafael Sánchez: texto y contexto. New York: Peter Lang, 1989. (The Narrative Work of Luis Rafael Sánchez). *Gonzalez, Christopher Thomas. Hospitable Imaginations: Contemporary Latino/a Literature and the Pursuit of a Readership (The narrative works of Luis Rafael Sánchez, Junot Diaz,

), Ohio State University, 2012. *Maeseneer, Rita De and Salvador Mercado Rodríguez. Ocho veces Luis Rafael Sánchez. Madrid: Editorial Verbum, 2008. (Eight essays about Sánchez's narrative.) *Mejías López, William. A lomo de tigre: Homenaje a Luis Rafael Sánchez. Ed. Introduction by Ramón Luis Acevedo. San Juan: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 2015. *Mercado Rodríguez, Salvador. Novelas bolero: ficciones musicalizadas posnacionales. San Juan: Isla Negra, 2012. (Bolero Novels: postnational musicalized fictions; has a chapter on Sánchez.) *Nouhaud, Dorita. Luis Rafael Sánchez: dramaturge, romancier et essayiste porto-ricain. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2001. *Perivolaris, John Dimitri. Puerto Rican Cultural Identity and the Work of Luis Rafael Sánchez. Chapel Hill: U.N.C. Department of Romance Languages, 2000. *Stanchich, Maritza. Insular interventions: Diasporic Puerto Rican Literature Bilanguaging Toward a Greater Puerto Rico (on Luis Rafael Sánchez, Luis Palés Matos,

), University of California, Santa Cruz, 2003. *Torres-Padilla, Jose L. and Carmen Haydes. Eds. Writing Off the Hyphen: New Critical Perspectives on the Puerto Rican Diaspora (Luis Rafael Sánchez,

). With essay by Maritza Stanchich. University of Washington Press, 2008. *Vázquez Arce, Carmen. Por la vereda tropical: notas sobre la cuentística de Luis Rafael Sánchez. Buenos Aires: Ediciones de la Flor, 1994. (On the tropical lane hrase taken from a song notes on Luis Rafael Sánchez's short story art.) *Waldman, Gloria. Luis Rafael Sánchez: pasión teatral. San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1988. (Luis Rafael Sánchez: Theatrical Passion).

References

External links

Literature Map
*Review of ''Macho Camacho's Beat'',

"Spanglish is everywhere now, which is no problema for some, but a pain in the cuello for purists: on Luis Rafael Sánchez, Giannina Braschi, Ana Lydia Vega," by Ilan Stavans, Boston Globe, 2003.
"Interview with Luis Rafael Sánchez"
i
''Sargasso''
a journal of literature, language, and culture, which is fully online in the Digital Library of the Caribbean from the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Luis Rafael 1936 births Living people People from Humacao, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male dramatists and playwrights Puerto Rican male novelists Puerto Rican male essayists Complutense University of Madrid alumni City College of New York alumni University of Puerto Rico alumni 20th-century Puerto Rican male writers 20th-century Puerto Rican novelists 20th-century Puerto Rican dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Puerto Rican male writers 21st-century Puerto Rican novelists 21st-century Puerto Rican dramatists and playwrights