Latin Books in New York City is a universe of libraries, bookstores, literary festivals, and spoken word.
Spoken Word is a contemporary form of the oral storytelling traditions which are central to community life in Indigenous and African Diaspora traditions. In The Bronx, spoken word evolved into hip hop.
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PEN World Voices Festival 2025 Celebrates International Literature
GREENWICH VILLAGE, Manhattan
Langston Hughes was a Harlem Renaissance Jazz Poet Who Spoke of Rivers
JOPLIN, Missouri, February 1, 1902 🇺🇸
National Puerto Rican Artisans and Authors Fair Offers Great Artisanal Holiday Gifts and Family Entertainment
HISPANIC SOCIETY, Washington Heights, Manhattan 🇵🇷
Latin Book News
New York City’s Book Scene
New Yorkers read a lot. People maximize their time by reading on the subways and trains. The classic New York apartment has walls of books.
Many book publishers are based in New York.
Latin Libraries in New York City
The Belmont Library and Enrico Fermi Cultural Center in the Bronx is one of New York’s biggest Italian libraries. nypl.org 🇮🇹
The Brazilian Endowment for the Arts, in Midtown East, is New York’s biggest Portuguese library. Facebook @brazilianendowmentforthearts 🇧🇷🇵🇹
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is a global French school and cultural center. The John & Francine Haskell Library is New York’s biggest French-language library. fiaf.org 🇫🇷
Hispanic Society is a research library and museum with the most important Spanish art collection outside of Spain. Most New Yorkers don’t know what we have, but when the collection travels to Spain, people line up around the block to see it. 🇪🇸
Instituto Cervantes New York is a global Spanish-language school and cultural center funded by the government of Spain. The Jorge Luis Borges Library is New York’s biggest Spanish-language library. 🇪🇸
The Italian Cultural Institute in the Upper East Side is a global Italian school and cultural center. The Lorenzo Da Ponte Library is one of New York’s important Italian-language libraries. iicnewyork.esteri.it 🇮🇹
The King Juan Carlos Center is a Spanish-language research and teaching institution at NYU (New York University). kjcc.org 🇪🇸
The Morgan Library and Museum was JP Morgan’s (Chase Bank) home and book collection. Its collection includes the original manuscript and art for Saint-Exupéry’s classic “The Little Prince.” It was written in New York. 🇫🇷
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts under Lincoln Center is a research library and cultural center for dance, film, music, and theatre. nypl.org
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library for African Diaspora arts and literature. It was founded by Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (1874-1938). As a child in Puerto Rico, an ignorant grade school teacher told him he had no culture and no history. Wow! During the Harlem Renaissance, he built one of the world’s preeminent collections of African Diaspora arts (Black Arts). The New York Public Library bought it and made Schomburg its founding curator. That teacher was wrong! 🇵🇷
Public Libraries in New York City
New York City has regional library systems:
- New York Public Library covers Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island. nypl.org
- 125th Street Library serves East Harlem, “El Barrio”
- Brooklyn Public Library. bklynlibrary.org
- Queens Public Library. queenslibrary.org
Latin Bookstores in NYC
Albertine is a French bookstore at the French Embassy in the Upper East Side. albertine.com 🇫🇷
Cafe con Libros is an Afro-Latina bookstore in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. cafeconlibrosbk.com
Librería Barco De Papel is a Spanish-language bookstore in Elmhurst, Queens. libreriabarcodepapelny.com
The Lit. Bar is an Afro-Latina bookstore in Port Morris, The Bronx. thelitbar.com
McNally Jackson Books is an independent bookstore with a strong Spanish-language department. mcnallyjackson.com
Mil Mundos Books is a Black and Latinx bookstore in Bushwick, Brooklyn. milmundosbooks.com
Latin Book Festivals in New York City
The Schomburg Black Comic Book Festival is usually in January. schomcom.org 🇺🇸🇵🇷
The UN’s World Poetry Day is on March 21.
The PEN World Voices Festival is usually in late April or early May.
The Schomburg Center Literary Festival is June. schomburgcenterlitfest.org 🇺🇸🇵🇷
The La Casita spoken word festival, is part of the Summer For the City festival at Hearst Plaza in Lincoln Center, and usually at Pregones/PRTT in Concourse, The Bronx in August.
The New Yorker Festival of writers and thinkers is usually in October. festival.newyorker.com
New York Comic Con is usually in October. newyorkcomiccon.com
The New York Art Book Fair is usually in October.
Latin Book Awards in New York City
Letras Boricuas Fellows by the Mellon Foundation in New York and the Flamboyan Foundation in San Juan Recognize Talented Puerto Rican Authors in October 🇵🇷
Spoken Word in New York City
The Bowery Poetry Club is a spoken word club in NoHo, Manhattan. bowerypoetry.com
The Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC) presents spoken word. It’s run by Puerto Ricans, but serves all Bronx communities. 🇵🇷
The Nuyorican Poets Cafe has a strong spoken word program run by “La Bruja” Caridad De La Luz. 🇵🇷
Pregones/PRTT presents spoken word at two Puerto Rican community theaters in Concourse, The Bronx and Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. 🇵🇷
About Latin Books
Literature has a special place in Latin culture. It’s not uncommon for Latin Americans to be able to recite poetry by heart. “Don Quixote” (1605) was the beginning of modern literature. It was the first time a literary character knew he was being written about.
Spoken word is important in Latin communities. It’s a legacy of Indigenous storytelling, European troubadour, West African griot, and South Asian Roma traditions which are all part of our Latin heritage. In The Bronx, spoken word evolved into rap and hip-hop.