Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15–Oct. 15) is the perfect time to welcome new voices to your reading list. These works highlight the diversity of Hispanic literature, spanning genres, histories and identities. Here are six reads that deserve a spot on your shelf.
Content warning: Mention of self-harm
“The Dangers of Smoking in Bed” by Mariana Enríquez
I’d be lying if I said some of the short stories in “The Dangers of Smoking in Bed” didn’t freak me out, but that’s part of its allure. First published in 2009 but translated to English in 2021, Mariana Enríquez’s collection pulls from Latin American mythology and superstitions to comment on the cultural stigma surrounding sex and spirituality. The Argentine author’s writing offers a response in its visceral, often revolting descriptions of the taboo, whether the focus is a decomposing baby haunting a girl or a daughter’s self-harm which her parents believe is caused by demonic possession. The collection also connects these topics to major sociopolitical events in Argentina; short story “Back When We Talked to the Dead” compares restless ghosts to the nearly 9,000 disappeared during the military dictatorship known as the Dirty War.
— Dani Biondi, Arts Editor
“House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” follows Esperanza, a 12-year-old Chicana, who grows up with her immigrant family in late 1960s Chicago. Told through 44 short, poetic vignettes, the novel captures both the insecurities of adolescence and the struggles of coming of age within a society that fails to support minority immigrant families. As Esperanza discovers escape and empowerment through writing, her language matures alongside her. Rooted in Cisneros’ own upbringing, the story’s authenticity offers an intimate look into the immigrant experience. Hailed as a pioneering work of Chicana feminism, the novel gives voice to young Mexican American women in a society that often silences them, transforming Esperanza’s story into one that resonates far beyond her neighborhood and amplifies marginalized voices.
— Maya Santiago, Fine Arts Editor
“Catalina: A Novel” by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s novel follows Catalina Ituralde over the course of a transformative year at Harvard University. Catalina was born in Ecuador, but immigrated to Queens to live with her grandparents at a very young age. Readers get a peak into her brain, with the book primarily consisting of funny and intellectual inner ramblings on literature, life and love. She works at an anthropology museum where most of her peers fetishize her culture, and she dates the son of a famed filmmaker. One of my favorite books, “Catalina: A Novel” is at once witty and somber, as the protagonist navigates college life, the experience of being undocumented in the United States and the feeling of being disconnected from home.
— Alexa Donovan, Editor-at-Large
“Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes
Widely considered the first modern novel, Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quixote” was published in two parts in 1605 and 1615. A nobleman too exposed to gallant accounts of chivalric romance, Alonso Quixano goes mad and adopts the name Don Quixote. Alongside his trusty squire Sancho Panza, he embarks on grand adventures or, at least, grand adventures in the mind of Quixote. Emboldened and blinded by his chivalric fantasies, he often spurs onto fools’ errands like battling windmills he mistakes for giants and endlessly pursuing the love of the beautiful Dulcinea. This interplay of the real and the illusory, along with groundbreaking techniques such as a shifting point of view and a heavy use of satire cemented “Don Quixote” as a classic of global literature even to contemporary audiences.
— Joe Paladino, Staff Writer
“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel
“El Boom” was one of the greatest literary movements in 20th-century Latin American literature, defined by its inventive use of magical realism, with Laura Esquivel’s 1989 novel “Like Water for Chocolate” standing out. Set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, the novel follows Tita, who is tormented by the tradition requiring her to remain single and care for her strict mother while secretly loving Pedro, the man engaged to her sister. Organized into 12 monthly chapters that each begin with a recipe, the book uses food as a vehicle for magical expression, with Tita’s emotions directly infused into every dish she prepares. This innovative blending of cookbook and novel highlights both her inner turmoil and her gradual liberation, while also dramatizing the tension between familial duty and romantic desire.
— Isabel Aljure, Contributing Writer
“Portrait in Sepia” by Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende’s “Portrait in Sepia” is a multigenerational novel that follows Aurora del Valle as she struggles to recover the fragmented memories of a childhood obscured by her grandmother, the formidable entrepreneur and matriarch Paulina del Valle. As Aurora pieces together her past, she uncovers long-buried family secrets that shape her sense of identity and belonging. Allende crafts a narrative that intricately intertwines Chilean, American and Chinese identities, moving fluidly across shifting geographies, evolving financial circumstances and political turbulence. Both poetic and harrowing, the novel showcases Allende’s unmatched ability to blend romance, history and personal drama into a story that feels intimate yet universal. Through her immersive storytelling, Allende demonstrates how personal memory and collective history remain inseparably linked, a recurring theme that resonates powerfully across many of her other Spanish-language novels.
— Lyra Dean, Contributing Writer
Contact the Arts Desk at [email protected].
