By Skyler Gomez | On October 28, 2019 | Updated May 1, 2025 | Comments (5)
Rosario Castellanos (born Rosario Castellanos Figueroa, 1925 – 1974), author, poet, and diplomat, was one of Mexico’s most influential literary voices of the twentieth century. Presented here are eight poems by Rosario Castellanos in both in their original Spanish (poemas de Rosario Castellanos) and in English translation, exploring, among other themes, her views on religion and critique of cultural constraints.
Castellanos’ work dealt with issues of culture and gender in her home country, and went on to become a significant influence on contemporary Mexican feminist theory and cultural studies.
After losing both parents in 1948, Castellanos was left to fend for herself. This tragic event along with the poem Endless Death by José Gorostiza marked the start of her career as a writer and cultural critic. Soon after, she enrolled in UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) to study law, philosophy, and literature.
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By Skyler Gomez | On June 14, 2019 | Updated May 1, 2025 | Comments (6)
Julia de Burgos, born Julia Constanza Burgos Garcia (February 17, 1914 – July 6, 1953), was a Puerto Rican poet, feminist, and civil rights activist for women and African/Afro-Caribbean writers. Here is a sampling of poems by Julia de Burgos in both their original Spanish (poemas de Julia de Burgos) and English translation.
After Burgos was awarded a scholarship to attend University High School in 1928, her family moved to Rio Piedras, which would later influence her to write her first work, Rio Grande de Loiza.
The writings of Luis Llorens Torres, Clara Lair, Rafael Alberti, and Pablo Neruda were among those who influenced her career as a young poet. In turn, Julia de Burgos deeply influenced the next generation of Puerto Rican poets, including Giannina Braschi.
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By Nava Atlas | On May 30, 2019 | Updated September 8, 2022 | Comments (0)
Sara Teasdale (1884 – 1933) was well known in her time for lyric poetry that celebrated the beautiful things in life, even as she herself struggled with perpetual illness and loneliness. Here we’ll explore a grouping of early poetry known as Sonnets to Duse, which served as Teasdale’s entry into the literary world.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she was the daughter of wealthy parents. In her young adult years in St. Louis, she was part of a group of creative, talented young women who called themselves the Potters. They hand-printed a magazine called The Potter’s Wheel, where Sara’s early poems were first published.
This led to the publication of her first book, Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems in 1907. She was twenty-three at the time of its publication. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On May 15, 2019 | Updated March 2, 2026 | Comments (0)
Born in the rural mountain community of Chloe Creek in Pike County, Kentucky, Effie Waller Smith (1879–1960) was the daughter of Sibbie Ratliff and Frank Waller, both of whom were formerly enslaved.
Effie’s parents ensured that their children would be well educated, and to that end, she attended Kentucky Normal School for Colored Persons, and from 1900 to 1902 where she trained as a teacher. Afterwards, she taught for some years.
Effie’s verse appeared in local papers, and she published her first collection, Songs of the Months, in 1904. That same year she entered a marriage that didn’t last long, and she divorced her husband. Read More→
By Taylor Jasmine | On April 27, 2019 | Updated September 19, 2025 | Comments (17)
Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 – 1950) has long been regarded as a major twentieth-century figure in the genre of poetry. Here is a selection of 12 poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay from some of her earlier collections.
Vincent, as her family and friends called her, was introduced by her mother to great works of literature from an early age, especially poetry by Shakespeare, Keats, Longfellow, Shelley, and Wordsworth.
At age of sixteen she compiled a dozen or so poems into a copybook and presented them to her mother as The Poetical Works of Vincent Millay. Read More→
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