New York Latin Culture Magazine®

World-class Indigenous, European & African Culture since 2012

Latin Books

Latin books and literary culture in New York City is a universe of spoken word clubs, literary festivals, libraries and bookstores.

Thanks to our Latin books sponsors:

92nd Street Y, New York

Latin Books in New York City

Isabel Allende Reads From and Discusses Her New Book “The Wind Knows My Name” with Alicia Menendez

One of the world’s most influential Latinas, and widely-read Spanish-language authors, discusses her new book about children in migration, “The Wind Knows My Name,” with MSNBC anchor and “Latina to Latina” podcast host Alicia Menendez.

92ND STREET Y, NEW YORK
Upper East Side, Manhattan
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
🇨🇱 🇨🇺 🇮🇱 🇸🇻

Continue Reading Isabel Allende Reads From and Discusses Her New Book “The Wind Knows My Name” with Alicia Menendez

Nuyorican Poets Cafe is New York’s Historic House of Slam Poetry

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe is a historic community cultural center in the East Village (Loisaida) that was founded by leaders of the Nuyorican Movement of the 1960s-70s. It’s a Puerto Rican venue, but everyone is welcome and everyone goes. 🇵🇷 The Nuyorican now has regular jazz nights, poetry slams, and open mics. It’s won many awards and…

Continue Reading Nuyorican Poets Cafe is New York’s Historic House of Slam Poetry

Latin Books Archive

Books in NYC

Books in NYC are in the city’s libraries and a few wonderful book stores. New Yorkers seem to read more than people in other cities. The classic New York apartment has a wall of books (or two).

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.

Latin Books Sponsors

Thank you for sponsoring Latin books at New York Latin Culture Magazine!

92nd Street Y New York is a Jewish community and cultural center that serves all communities. 🇺🇸

Harlem Stage is the performing arts center of the Harlem Renaissance 3.0. 🇺🇸

Instituto Cervantes New York is a global Spanish language school and Hispanic cultural center. 🇪🇸

PEN America is a literary and human rights organization that sponsors the PEN World Voices Festival. 🇺🇸

Spoken Word in NYC

The Bowery Poetry Club is a spoken word club in NoHo, Manhattan. bowerypoetry.com

The Bronx Music Hall is a performing arts center that 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. 🇵🇷

Book Festivals in NYC

The Schomburg Black Comic Book Festival is usually in January. schomcom.org 🇺🇸🇵🇷

The UN’s World Poetry Day is on March 21.

The Pen America World Voices Festival is usually in May. worldvoices.pen.org

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.

Public Libraries in NYC

New York City has regional library systems:

Latin Libraries in NYC

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 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! 🇵🇷

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