SOURCE: Luis, William. “Latin American (Hispanic Caribbean) Literature Written in the United States.” In The Cambridge History of Latin American Literature: The Twentieth Century, vol. 2, edited by Roberto González Echevarría and Enrique Pupo-Walker, pp. 526-56. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

In the following essay, Luis provides an overview of Spanish-Caribbean literature written in the United States, briefly discussing the works of such authors as Reinaldo Arenas, José Martí, and others.

Hispanic Caribbean literature written in the United States is a relatively new field in literary history and criticism. In recent years, Spanish American literature written in the United States has become a reality because of writers who, for economic or political reasons, left their countries to reside in the United States. Authors such as Reinaldo Arenas (Cuba) and Sylvia Molloy (Argentina) write about their homelands; but, as their stay in the United States becomes more permanent...