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I Am My Own Path
Selected Writings of Julia De Burgos

Vanessa Pérez-Rosario (Edited by)

9781477327906, University of Texas Press

Hardback, published 14 October 2025

440 pages, 14 b&w photos
25.4 x 17.8 x 1.5 cm, 0.454 kg

"How grateful I am that nuestra Julia de Burgos, writer, feminist, social activist, can now become more fully accessible to monolingual English readers. With this comprehensive critical introduction to her life and work, nuestra Julia becomes a Julia for all of America. A treasure trove for those who did not know of her work or want to know more." - Julia Alvarez, author of The Cemetery of Untold Stories

"This collection is a timely and necessary work of scholarship and translation as well as a revisiting of an important voice in Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and hemispheric poetic and political thought. Vanessa PÉrez-Rosario’s collaborative efforts and ethical care serve to illuminate new dimensions of Julia de Burgos’s thought and legacy." - Yomaira C. Figueroa-Vásquez

"Everyone should rush out immediately and get a copy of this dazzling, monumental translation of Julia de Burgos’s extraordinary writing. The work of Burgos is graced by a strikingly brilliant rendering by some of today’s most inspired and inspiring literary translators, many of whom are themselves celebrated writers. I Am My Own Path is a treasure trove, a lighthouse, and essential reading for anyone interested in poetry, poetics, Puerto Rican letters, or the literature of the Americas. This vital volume is a historical event not to be missed!" - Rachel Galvin, author ofUterotopia: Poems

"This collection, which further establishes Julia de Burgos’s importance and gives her work new expression in English, is orchestrated by a scholar who knows de Burgos and her work better than anyone else: Vanessa PÉrez-Rosario. She has assembled an all-star lineup of influential poets and scholars to help translate de Burgos’s writing for a multilingual readership. Period translations from decades back are complemented by new ones from a stellar array of emerging and established contemporary literary figures.  The deft, top-notch curation of this book makes it a powerful tool for expanding our understanding of de Burgos’s work." - Esther Allen, translator of The Suicides by Antonio Di Benedetto

A definitive, bilingual selection of poetry, essays, and letters by one of Puerto Rico’s most beloved poets.

Julia de Burgos (1914–1953) is best known for her poetry, but she is also an important cultural figure famous for her commitment to social justice, feminist ideas, and the independence of Puerto Rico. Admirers cultivated her legacy to bring to light the real Julia de Burgos, the woman behind the public figure, which this remarkable collection further illuminates by supplying a complex portrait using her own powerful and imaginative words.

Beginning with a critical introduction to Burgos's life and work, Vanessa PÉrez-Rosario then presents a selection of poems, essays, and letters, that offer a glimpse into this formidable talent and intellect. Burgos left Puerto Rico, spending the 1940s in both New York City and Havana, where she cultivated a new kind of identity refracted through her pathbreaking work as a poet and journalist. Both poetry and prose are alive with politically charged insights into the struggle of national liberation, literary creation, and being a woman in a patriarchal society. I Am My Own Path is essential reading for anyone interested in Puerto Rican literature and culture as well as a foundational text of Latinx literature and culture in the United States.

  • Translating Julia de Burgos by Vanessa PÉ
    rez-Rosario
  • Part I. Selected Poems
    • Poema en 20 surcos / Poem in 20 Furrows
      • A Julia de Burgos
      • To Julia de Burgos, translated by Grace Schulman
      • To Julia de Burgos, translated by Roberto MÁ
        rquez

      • o Grande de LoÍ
        za
      • Rio Grande de LoÍ
        za, translated by Grace Schulman
      • Rio Grande de LoÍ
        za, translated by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera
      • Momentos
      • Moments, translated by UrayoÁ
        n Noel
      • PentacromÍ
        a
      • Pentachromatics, translated by Robin Myers
      • Nada
      • Nothingness, translated by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera
      • Ay Ay Ay de la grifa negra
      • My, Oh My, Oh My of the Nappy-haired Negress, translated by Roberto MÁ
        rquez
      • Mi alma
      • My Soul, translated by Carina del Valle Schorske
      • Ochenta mil
      • Eighty Thousand, translated by Vanessa PÉ
        rez-Rosario
      • Yo misma fui mi ruta
      • I Am My Own Path, translated by Vanessa PÉ
        rez-Rosario
    • CanciÓ
      n de la verdad sencilla
      / Song of the Simple Truth
      • Poema detenido en un amanecer
      • Poem Confined in a Dawn, translated by Josefina BÁ
        ez
      • TransmutaciÓ
        n
      • Transmutation, translated by Jack AgÜ
        eros
      • ArmonÍ
        a de la palabra y el instinto
      • Word and Instinct in Harmony, Translated by Josefina BÁ
        ez
      • CanciÓ
        n desnuda
      • Naked Song, translated by Josefina BÁ
        ez
      • Yo fui la mÁ
        s callada
      • I Was the Quietest, translated by Carina del Valle Schorske
      • Te seguirÉ
        callada
      • I Will Follow You Hushed, translated by Aurora Levins Morales
      • CanciÓ
        n de tu presencia
      • Song of Your Presence, translated by Vanessa PÉ
        rez-Rosario
      • CanciÓ
        n de la verdad sencilla
      • Song of the Simple Truth, Translated by Roberto MÁ
        rquez
    • El mar y tÚ
      / The Sea and You
      • El mar y tÚ
      • The Sea and You, translated by Aurora Levins Morales
      • Casi alba
      • Almost Sunrise, translated by Cyrus Cassells

      • ctima de luz
      • Victim of Light, translated by Aurora Levins Morales
      • CanciÓ
        n amarga
      • Bitter Song, translated by Josefina BÁ
        ez
      • Entre mi voz y el tiempo
      • Between My Voice and Time, translated by Josefina BÁ
        ez
      • Dadme mi nÚ
        mero
      • Give Me My Number, translated by UrayoÁ
        n Noel
      • ¡
        Oh lentitud del mar!
      • Oh Slowness of the Sea!, translated by Vanessa PÉ
        rez-Rosario
      • ¡
        Oh mar, no esperes mÁ
        s!
      • Oh Sea, Wait no Longer!, translated by Josefina BÁ
        ez
      • Poema para mi muerte
      • Poem for My Death, translated by Roberto MÁ
        rquez
    • Poemas sueltos / Loose Poems
      • Campo
      • Country, translated by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera
      • Countryside, translated by Robin Myers
      • Una canciÓ
        n a Albizu Campos
      • A Song for Albizu Campos, translated by Carina del Valle Schorske
      • Himno de sangre a Trujillo
      • Bloody Hymn for Trujillo, translated by Aurora Levins Morales
      • CanciÓ
        n a los pueblos de AmÉ
        rica y del mundo
      • Song to the Hispanic Peoples of America and the World, translated by Vanessa PÉ
        rez-Rosario
      • Canto a JosÉ
        MartÍ
      • Song for JosÉ
        MartÍ
        , translated by Vanessa PÉ
        rez-Rosario
      • Farewell in Welfare Island
      • Despedida desde Welfare Island, translated by Mayra Santos-Febres
      • The Sun in Welfare Island
      • El sol de Welfare Island, translated by Mayra Santos-Febres
  • Part II. Essays, Interview Essays, Vignettes, and Sketches
    Translated by Robin Myers
    • Ensayos/Essays
      • La mujer frente el dolor de la patria
      • Women and the Pain of the Nation
      • Ser o no ser es la divisa
      • To Be or Not to Be Is the Motto
      • Triunfa Juan Bosch en concurso periodÍ
        stico
      • Juan Bosch Triumphs in Journalism Contest
      • Cultura en funciÓ
        n social
      • The Social Function of Culture
      • JosÉ
        de Diego, el hombre transmutado
      • JosÉ
        de Diego, the Transmuted Man
      • Con los hÉ
        roes de la independencia hispanoamericana
      • With the Heroes of Hispanic American Independence
      • PresentaciÓ
        n de Marigloria Palma
      • Introducing Marigloria Palma
      • Luis LlorÉ
        ns Torres enfermo en Nueva York
      • Luis LlorÉ
        ns Torres Ill in New York
      • Carmen Alicia Cadilla
      • Carmen Alicia Cadilla
    • Entrevistas/Interview Essays
      • PlÁ
        tica con Esteban Soriano
      • A Conversation with Esteban Soriano
      • Con Narciso Figueroa, pianista puertorriqueÑ
        o
      • With Narciso Figueroa, Puerto Rican Pianist
      • Con Eusebia Cosme, gran recitadora cubana
      • With Eusebia Cosme, Great Cuban Performer of Poetry
      • Con Noro Morales, director de orquesta puertorriqueÑ
        o
      • With Noro Morales, Musical Director of Orquesta PuertoriqueÑ
        o
      • Con Conrado VÁ
        squez, pintor revolucionario mexicano
      • With Conrado VÁ
        squez, Revolutionary Mexican Painter
      • Con Josephine Premice y su arte folklÓ
        rico haitiano
      • With Josephine Premice and Her Haitian Folk Art
      • Con Carlos Alfonso RÍ
        os, poeta peruano
      • With Carlos Alfonso RÍ
        os, Peruvian Poet
    • CrÓ
      nicas/Vignettes and Sketches
      • Perfiles de mexicanos, voces de MÉ
        xico en Baltimore
      • Mexican Profiles, Voices of Mexico in Baltimore
      • Iris y Paloma en el Museo de Arte HispÁ
        nico
      • Iris and Paloma in the Hispanic Society Museum and Library
      • En la Cantina de la Juventud
      • In the Youth Canteen
      • Iris y Paloma caminan por Harlem
      • Iris and Paloma Take a Walk through Harlem
      • Iris y Paloma en el Museo de la ciudad de Nueva York
      • Iris and Paloma in the Museum of the City of New York
      • Puerto Rico en el alma de un niÑ
        o
      • Puerto Rico in the Soul of a Child
  • Part III. Letters
    Translated by Robin Myers
    • The Burgos GarcÍ
      a Family
  • Acknowledgments
  • A Note on Translations and Editions
  • Notes
  • Bibliography to the Introduction
  • Contributors
  • Index

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