10 Contemporary Afro-Latino Authors to Know


​At Latino Book Review, we celebrate the diversity of cultural traditions, recollections, and histories that intersect with our identities as a community. That means creating a space that is inclusive of our divergent voices and exploring how our legacies are being illustrated. This Black History Month, we have put together a list of contemporary authors sparking discourses about identity and commemorating how Afro-Latino writers are passionate in capturing the essence of their individual experiences through literature, all while being part of a larger narrative that proves there is no singular experience for Latinos.
Junot Díaz
A Pulitzer Prize recipient, Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and has received critical acclaim for his work, including ‘Drown’ and ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’. He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2017 and is a cofounder of Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, the only multi-genre workshop for writers of color in the nation.
Paulo Lins
Brazilian author and director Paulo Lins had his novel ‘City  of God’ adapted into a film in 2002, which received critical acclaim for its depiction of the violence and poverty in the slums of Brazil. He is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, Latin America & Caribbean for his literature.
Tato Laviera
Tato Laviera’s legacy includes his representation of the Nuyorican movement through his poetry and his work with University of the Streets, which aims to provide higher-education opportunities for under-privileged youth. His poetry has been published in a wide-array of anthologies and he received the American Book Award for his collection ‘Enclave’. Posthumously, ‘Bendición: The Complete Poetry of Tato Laviera’ was published in 2014 and a corner in East Harlem was named the Tato Laviera Way. 
Quince Duncan
Celebrated as Costa Rica’s first Afro-Caribbean novelist in the Spanish language, Quince Duncan was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters degree from St. Olaf College in 2001 and is regarded as a human rights leader for being vocal about racial inequality in his country. He is author of several books, including ‘A Message from Rosa’, and was been awarded Costa Rica’s Premio Nacional de Literatura and el Premio Editorial Costa Rica.
Veronica Chambers
Born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, Veronica Chambers was a 2017 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University and has received critical acclaim for her memoir ‘Mama’s Girl’. She is a prolific author who has collaborated on several New York Times bestsellers, has been a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fiction awards, and earned a BET Comedy Award for her work as an executive story editor for CW’s Girlfriends series.
Luz Argentina Chiriboga
An Afro-Ecuadorian author, Luz Argentina Chiriboga’s work has been noted for challenging stereotypes about women and for being a pioneer writer to address Afro-Latino cultures in her literature. She has been a recipient of El Premio General José de San Martín, Buenos Aires and her prolific career includes several novels, including ‘On Friday Night’ and ‘Cuéntanos, abuela’, and books of poetry.
Willie Perdomo
Winner of the International Latino Book Award, Puerto Rican poet Willie Perdomo is currently a faculty member of the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation and is author of several poetry collections such as ‘Smoking Lovely’, which won the PEN/Beyond Margins Award. His award-winning children’s books include ‘Visiting Langston’, which received a Coretta Scott King Award, and ‘Clemente’, an  America’s Award winner.
Mayra Santos Febres
A Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the Letras de Oro and the Juan Rulfo de Cuentos, Mayra Santos Febres is a Puerto Rican who has authored over 25 books, including ‘La amante de Gardel’ and ‘Sobre piel y papel’. A professor at the University of Puerto Rico, her work has been translated from Spanish into French, English, German, and Italian.
​Elizabeth Acevedo
Of Dominican heritage, Elizabeth Acevedo’s poetry has been popping up all over social media and making her a figure to be reckoned with in contemporary pop culture, her voice sharing passionate perspectives of her Afro-Latina experience. A National Slam Champion, Cave Canem Fellow, and CantoMundo Fellow, she is author of ‘The Poet X’.
Dahlma Llanos Figueroa
A Puerto Rican from the Bronx, Dalhma Llanos Figueroa is a prolific and award winning author who has been a Bronx Council on the Arts recipient of the Literary Arts Fellowship and Residency, as well as having been awarded an ACE and BRIO award for fiction and a BRIO award for creative non-fiction. Winner of a Best Female Author and Best New Author Award from the Go on Girl! Book Club, her novels include ‘A Woman of Endurance’ and ‘Daughters of Stone’, which was a finalist for the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers.
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​​2/1/2018
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