Emory Libraries is pleased to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place each year between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15. This period commemorates the important contributions of the over 60 million Americans who trace their roots to Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Spanish-speaking islands of the Caribbean and Spain.
In 1968, Congress authorized the President to issue an annual proclamation observing a National Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1988, this became a month-long commemoration. National Hispanic Heritage Month begins on Sept. 15, the day that the nations of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica) celebrate their independence. Mexico (Sept. 16) and Chile (Sept. 18) also mark their independence days during the period. Día de la Raza, or Columbus Day (Oct. 12), also occurs in this 30-day interval.
This blog post highlights recent literature (novels, poetry, memoirs and short stories) written by Hispanic American/Latinx authors found in the Emory Libraries collections.
“Ojo en celo = Eye in heat: Poems” by Margarita Pintado Burgos
A bilingual anthology of poetry written by Margarita Pintado Burgos, a PhD graduate of Emory’s Department of Spanish & Portuguese, which won the 2023 Ambroggio Prize of the Academy of American Poets.
“Desire Museum” by Danielle Cadena Deulen
A volume of poetry written by a Georgia State University professor that won the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Outstanding Bisexual Poetry.
“Loving in the War Years and Other Writings, 1978-1999” by Cherríe Moraga
This new edition was published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Moraga’s classic memoir and combined with selections from her noted work The Last Generation: Poetry and Prose.
“Where There was Fire” by John Manuel Arias
The debut novel of a Costa Rican-American author dealing with a fire and family secret set on a banana plantation in 1968.
“The Place of the White Heron” by Alejandro Morales
A new novel by a noted Chicano writer and University of California Irvine professor emeritus that was a finalist in the 2024 NextGeneration Indie Book Awards multicultural category.
“My Chicano Heart : New and Collected Stories of Love and Other Transgressions” by Daniel A. Olivas
A collection of previously published and 5 new short stories dealing with Mexican and Mexican American culture and the key roles that love, heartbreak and death play in each.
—by Phil MacLeod, librarian for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Luso-Hispanic Studies, and Comparative Literature