By Skyler Gomez | On March 28, 2019 | Updated May 1, 2025 | Comments (0)
Julia de Burgos, born Julia Constanza Burgos Garcia (February 17, 1914 – July 6, 1953), was a Puerto Rican poet and civil rights activist for women and African/Afro-Caribbean writers.
She was also an advocate for Puerto Rican independence and served as Secretary General of the Daughters of Freedom, the women’s branch of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.
Julia was born and raised in Santa Cruz, a poor area of Carolina, Puerto Rico where her father owned a farm in addition to working as a member of the Puerto Rican National Guard. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On March 26, 2019 | Updated September 22, 2026 | Comments (0)
Anne Brontë (January 17, 1820 – May 28, 1849) was a British author born in Thornton, West Yorkshire, the daughter of Patrick Brontë, a clergyman, and Maria Branwell.
She followed in her older sisters’ (Charlotte and Emily Brontë) paths by delving into the literary world as a novelist and poet.
Along with her sisters and brother Branwell, Anne grew up in Haworth, an isolated town on the moors of Yorkshire. She was one of six siblings raised by her father after the death of their mother. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On March 20, 2019 | Updated March 5, 2026 | Comments (0)
Mary Wollstonecraft (April 27, 1759 – September 10, 1797) was a British author of fiction and nonfiction, philosopher, and women’s rights advocate.
Though her body of work was fairly substantial, including many essays, a history of the French Revolution, and some fiction, she’s now primarily known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
She was the mother of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (later known as Mary Shelley), the author of Frankenstein; tragically, she died a few days after giving birth to her namesake. Read More→
By Larrisa Pope | On February 15, 2019 | Updated June 22, 2026 | Comments (0)
Harriet Ann Jacobs (February 11, 1813 – March 7, 1897) chronicled her life under enslavement in North Carolina and the constant sexual harassment by a prominent doctor.
She is alternately referred to as Harriet A. Jacobs (or simply Harriet Jacobs) and is today best known as the author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, an autobiographical narrative published privately in 1861. Read More→
By Skyler Gomez | On February 11, 2019 | Updated September 15, 2026 | Comments (3)
Gabriela Mistral, born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (April 7, 1889 – January 10, 1957), was a Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist best known for being the first Latin American to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
She was awarded the prize “for her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world.”
In the introduction to A Queer Mother for the Nation: The State and Gabriela Mistral (2002), Licia Fiol-Matta encapsulates the writer’s unique persona: Read More→
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