BOOK OF THE MONTH: BECOMING JULIA DE BURGOS: The Making of a Puerto Rican Icon by Vanessa Pérez-Rosario
¡Río Grande de Loíza!… Mi manantial, mi río, desde que alzome al mundo el pétalo materno; Río Grande de Loíza!… My wellspring, my river since the maternal petal lifted me to the world. ---Julia de Burgos, Río Grande de Loíza Illinois University Press How many of us have heard of Julia de Burgos but never read any of her poetry? How many of us have heard of how she died and was buried in a potter’s field, but never realized the extent of her influence? Professor Vanessa Pérez-Rosario has written a new book on Julia de Burgos’ life and her place in Puerto Rican culture. Julia de Burgos was a poet and activist. Her influence spread in the 1930s when the nationalist movement on the island was run by men to the Nuyorican writers of the 1970s to today’s modern writers who have adopted Ju...