The 2024 Letras Boricuas Fellows were announced by the Mellon Foundation in New York and the Flamboyan Foundation in San Juan. This program promotes Puerto Rico’s strong, but often unrecognized literary heritage. Like other Caribbean peoples, Puerto Ricans have something extra in terms of creativity and talent. That’s why Puerto Rican music and dance are loved around the world.
“The exceptional writers who make up this third group of fellows demonstrate the broad geographic and aesthetic range of Puerto Rican literary expression today,” said Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Mellon Foundation. “We at Mellon are pleased to welcome them to the Letras Boricuas community, reflecting our ongoing effort to acknowledge and uplift the brilliant cultural life of Puerto Rico and its diaspora.”
This third group of Letras Boricuas Fellows consists of twenty Puerto Rican authors on the island and in the Diaspora, working in many genres and styles, including the new category of playwriting. Fellows get $25,000 in unrestricted grants to support their writing practice. The recognition also provides lots of valuable connections into the literary world.
“We are excited to announce this new Letras Boricuas cohort. We know this recognition’s powerful impact because we have seen it up close. Continuing to strengthen the ties between the Puerto Ricans of the archipelago and those of the diaspora with the construction of this literary community encourages us to create more opportunities for these talented writers,” said Carlos Rodríguez Silvestre, Executive Director of Flamboyan Foundation. “Likewise, including the playwright category resulted from the active listening of the two previous cohorts. We congratulate these twenty new fellowship recipients and can’t wait to see the next evolution of this initiative in the coming years.”
Letras Boricuas Fellows 2024
The selection committee is: Nicolás Kanellos, Magali García Ramis, Caridad de la Luz (Nuyorican Poets Cafe), Cezanne Cardona, Larry La Fountain-Stokes, Georgina Lázaro León, Rosalba Rolón (Pregones/PRTT), Lisette Rolón (University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez), and Heriberto Feliciano.
There are no words to express how proud we are of your creativity and success. ¡Somos muy orgullosos de ustedes!
Children’s Literature
José Rabelo – Gurabo, PR
Creative Nonfiction
Jaquira Díaz – New York, NY
Carina del Valle Schorske – New York, NY
Roxana Domenech Cruz – San Juan, PR
Fiction
Christian Ibarra – San Juan, PR
Richie Narvaez – New York, NY
Charles Rice-Gonzalez – New York, NY
Huascar Robles – Los Angeles, CA
Ana Teresa Toro – San Juan, PR
Poetry
Mayda del Valle – Illinois, IL
Tatiana Figueroa Ramirez – Maryland, MD
Cindy Jiménez-Vera – Bayamón, PR
Samuel Medina – San Juan, PR
Willie Perdomo – New Hampshire, NH
Alejandra Rosa – Trujillo Alto, PR
Gaddiel Francisco Ruiz Rivera – Vega Baja, PR
Roque Raquel Salas Rivera– San Juan, PR
Vincent Toro – New Jersey, NJ
Poetry (Spoken Word)
Rayze Ostolaza – Carolina, PR
Playwriting
Aravind Enrique Adyanthaya – Lajas, PR
¡Yo soy Boricua, pa’ que tu lo sepas!
Taino (Joel Bosch)
Letras Boricuas Fellows
The Letras Boricuas Fellowship is part of the Mellon Foundation’s continued commitment to sustaining and enriching Puerto Rico’s vibrant cultural, knowledge, and memory ecosystems. To date, Mellon’s commitment to this effort totals nearly $90 million.
“After being selected for the Letras Boricuas Fellowship, I was encouraged to pursue—and ultimately win—the Ambroggio Award from The Academy of American Poets. Thanks to the fellowship’s financial support, I knew I could invest in the translation costs regardless of the outcome,” said Margarita Pintado, 2022 Letras Boricuas fellow. “Letras Boricuas was a turning point for me as a writer, not only because of the doors it has opened, but also because of the relationships I have formed with other Puerto Rican writers with whom I hope to collaborate in the future.”
Thank you Flamboyan Foundation for doing so much for our people. The flamboyan is a tree whose leaves turn bright red or orange in summer. Originally from Madagascar in Mother Africa, it grows wild in the Caribbean. There are many flamboyans in Puerto Rico. They brighten our lives.
Thank you Mellon Foundation. In our book, you are Puerto Rican too! 🇵🇷