A short story authored by a University of Central Florida English professor has been selected for a first-of-its-kind anthology of literature.
“Muchacha,” authored by Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés is part of the Norton Anthology of Latino Literature released this month.
The anthology is a collection of works tracing four centuries of writing, from letters to the Spanish crown by sixteenth-century conquistadors to the cutting-edge expressions of twenty-first-century cartoonistas and artists of reggaeton. It’s the first time such a range of Hispanic writers have been pulled together into one collection and took 12 years to complete.
Rodríguez Milanés said she was honored to share the pages of the book with such famous authors as Sandra Cisneros and Julia Alvarez. And she’s proud of what the anthology represents.
“The anthology is a statement that ethnic writers make American Literature vibrant and that Latinos, specifically, have made a contribution,” she said.
Rodríguez Milanés, who has been at UCF since 1999, teaches Latino Literature and honors English. This month she also published “Everyday Chica,” a collection of poems about growing up Latina in the United States. Last summer she published “Marielitos, Balseros and Other Exiles” a collection of stories about the Cuban exile experience.
Rodríguez Milanés was born in New Jersey. She holds several degrees from the University of Miami, Barry University and State University of New York at Albany.