Isabel Allende is a Chilean author best known for penning novels in the style of magic realism. She is the niece of former Chilean president Salvador Allende.
The theme of being caught between two cultures is covered in writer Julia Alvarez's poetry and fiction, including How the García Girls Lost Their Accents.
Sandra Cisneros is a Latina American novelist who wrote the bestselling novel "The House on Mango Street."
Rubén Darío was an acclaimed Nicaraguan poet, essayist and journalist who introduced the style known as modernism to Spanish literature.
One of Spain's most famous writers, Miguel de Cervantes created one of the world's greatest literary masterpieces, Don Quixote, in the early 1600s.
Laura Esquivel is the author of Like Water for Chocolate, an imaginative and compelling combination of novel and cookbook, as well as other books.
Federico García Lorca is considered one of Spain's greatest poets and dramatists. One of his most successful poetry collections was The Gypsy Ballads.
Cuban born writer Guillermo Infante was a success for many works, including Tres tristes tigres, winning the Miguel Cervantes literary prize in 1997.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a 17th century nun, self-taught scholar and acclaimed writer of the Latin American colonial period and the Hispanic Baroque. She was also a staunch advocate for women's rights.
A poet and a journalist, José Martí spent his short life fighting for Cuban independence. He died in 1895 during a failed attempt to win freedom for Cuba.
Writer Gabriel García Márquez, author of Love in the Time of Cholera, has gained worldwide readership with his brand of magical realism.
Juan Carlos Onetti was an Uruguayan novelist and short-story writer whose existential works, including A Brief Life, chronicled the decay of modern urban life.