Bronx Caribbean Authors We Read This June

As June wrapped up, so did Caribbean American Heritage Month– but it’s never too late to read Caribbean American authors. We celebrated all month long and we’re keeping the reading going! A few of our favorite recommendations are below, specifically, works by authors with a connection to the Bronx. Don’t forget to buy their books through our online bookstore– when you do, you keep the Bronx reading and further our mission of growing the borough’s literary community.

Claudia Rankine is perhaps best known for her work Citizen: An American Lyric– this and many of her other works explore race and identity in America. The author of six collection of lauded poetry, she is the recipient of the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, the Poets & Writers’ Jackson Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and the National Endowment of the Arts. Her other works include Just Us: An American Conversation (her latest), Don’t Let Me Be Lonely, HELP,  The White Card, and The Provenance of Beauty: A South Bronx Travelogue (created with Melanie Joseph).

Claribel A. Ortega is a former small town reporter turned critically lauded YA author. Her debut novel Ghost Squad was named an NPR best book of 2020, was featured on Good Morning America, and is being made into a feature film, and her forthcoming books include the middle grade novel Witchlings and the graphic novel Frizzy. She is also the cohost of her podcast Celebrity Book Club.

Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning YA author. Her works include Never Look Back (Pura Belpré Honor winner), Dealing In Dreams, The Education of Margot Sanchez, and the middle grade Goldie Vance series. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Elle, among other publications. Her next book, the genre-bending YA novel We Light up the Sky will come out this October, and her graphic novel for DC will be coming out this September.

Adam Silvera is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His works include They Both Die at the End, More Happy Than Not, History Is All You Left Me, What If It’s Us (with Becky Albertalli), and the Infinity Cycle Series. Many of his works address LGBTQ+ themes. In the past he’s worked in the children’s publishing industry as a bookseller and reviewer of children’s and YA novels.

Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa is the critically acclaimed author of works such as Daughters of the Stone (2010 Finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize), the forthcoming A Woman of Endurance, and short stories which have appeared in anthologies such as Bronx Memoir Project, Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul, and Growing Up Girl. Her writing has also appeared literary magazines such as the Afro-Hispanic Review and Kweli Journal. She has been awarded with two BRIO Awards, two Go on Girl author awards, as well as several fellowships, including the Bronx Council on the Arts Fellows for Fiction. Since is also dedicated to leading workshops and speaking engagements.

Sofía Quintero, the self-proclaimed “Ivy League homegirl” is an activist and author. Her latest book is the YA novel Show and Prove. Under the pen name Black Artemis, she wrote the novels Explicit Content, Picture Me Rollin, and Burn. She’s also the author of YA novel Efrain’s Secret, novel Divas Don’t Yield, and has contributed novellas to the collections Names I Call My Sister and Friday Night Chicas. She is also the co-founder of Chica Luna Productions, a nonprofit that works with women of color working to create socially conscious entertainment.