Rosario Ferré
Encyclopedia
Dr. Rosario Ferré is a Puerto Rican writer
, poet
and essayist. Her father, Luis A. Ferré
, was the third elected Governor of Puerto Rico
, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party
. When her mother, Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano
, died in 1970. during her father's term as Governor, Rosario fulfilled the duties of First Lady
until 1972.
Among her published literary essays is "Sitio a Eros", which promoted political and social themes.
into one of Puerto Rico
's wealthiest families. Her parents were Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano and the late Luis A. Ferré
, the former governor of Puerto Rico
. She is also the niece of the late Sor Isolina Ferré
, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
. She received her primary education in Ponce, Puerto Rico. At age 13 she moved to Wellesley
, Massachusetts
and attended Dana Hall School
.
Ferré began writing professionally at age 14, publishing articles in Puerto Rico's El Nuevo Día
newspaper
. In her youth, Ferré was an independence advocate, despite the fact that her father was pro-statehood. Later in life, she also became an advocate of statehood. Upon graduating from high school she went to the United States
and earned her Bachelor of Arts
degree in English
and French
from Manhattanville College
. She is a member of Mu Alpha Phi
sorority.
Ferré returned to Puerto Rico where in the 1970s she enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico
to work on her Master's degree. During her tenure as a student, Ferré began her writing career as the founder, editor
and publisher of the journal Zona de Carga y Descarga along with her cousin Olga Nolla
. The journal was devoted to publishing new writers and to promoting the ideas of the independence movement. Among the novelists and short story writers of Puerto Rico, Ana Lydia Vega
and Giannina Braschi
share Rosario Ferré's commitment to satire. Ferré also has written and published poems and a biography of her father. Upon earning her masters degree, Rosario enrolled in University of Maryland
where she graduated with a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature
. Ferré then obtained her PhD from the University of Maryland
. Her doctoral thesis was titled: "La filiación romántica de los cuentos de Julio Cortázar
" (The romantic link between the stories of Julio Cortázar).
into English as The House on the Lagoon. After Maldito Amor she switched to write the first versions of her books directly in English, but she continues to self-translate her books into Spanish. In 2002 she published a bilingual edition of poems Language Duel/Duelo del languaje.
Ferré's books include, among others, The Youngest Doll, The Battle of Virgins, The House on the Lagoon, Sweet Diamond Dust, Flight of the Swan and Eccentric Neighborhoods..
In 1992, she was the recipient of the "Liberatur Prix" award from the Frankfurt Book Fair for Kristallzucker, the German translation of Maldito Amor. In 1997, she was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Brown University
. Ferré was a Guggenheim fellowship recipient in 2004.
and lived in Washington, D.C.
she met her third husband, Agustín Costa Quintano, a Puerto Rican architect
. They later moved to Puerto Rico, where they currently reside. Dr. Rosario Ferré is currently a professor at the University of Puerto Rico
and was a contributing editor for The San Juan Star
, Puerto Rico's former English language newspaper. Ferré has also been a visiting professor at Rutgers University
and Johns Hopkins University
.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and essayist. Her father, Luis A. Ferré
Luis A. Ferré
Don Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party which advocates for Puerto Rico...
, was the third elected Governor of Puerto Rico
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party
New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
. When her mother, Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano
Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano
Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano was the first wife of former Governor of Puerto Rico Luis A. Ferré and served as First Lady from 1968 until her death in 1970.Ramírez was born on Estrella Street in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Alfredo Ramírez de Arellano y Rosell....
, died in 1970. during her father's term as Governor, Rosario fulfilled the duties of First Lady
First Lady of Puerto Rico
First Lady of Puerto Rico is the title traditionally given to the spouse of the Governor of Puerto Rico. The current First Lady is Lucé Vela.-Current:...
until 1972.
Among her published literary essays is "Sitio a Eros", which promoted political and social themes.
Early years
Rosario Ferré (birth name: Rosario Ferré Ramírez de Arellano) was born in Ponce, Puerto RicoPonce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
into one of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
's wealthiest families. Her parents were Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano and the late Luis A. Ferré
Luis A. Ferré
Don Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party which advocates for Puerto Rico...
, the former governor of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. She is also the niece of the late Sor Isolina Ferré
Isolina Ferré
Isolina Ferré Aguayo was a Puerto Rican Roman Catholic nun. Known as the "Mother Teresa of Puerto Rico", she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her humanitarian work....
, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
. She received her primary education in Ponce, Puerto Rico. At age 13 she moved to Wellesley
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census.It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and attended Dana Hall School
Dana Hall School
Founded in 1881, Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA, is an independent boarding and day school for girls in grades 6-12.-History:...
.
Ferré began writing professionally at age 14, publishing articles in Puerto Rico's El Nuevo Día
El Nuevo Día
El Nuevo Día is a Puerto Rican newspaper based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and distributed daily throughout Puerto Rico and some parts of the United States.- History :...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
. In her youth, Ferré was an independence advocate, despite the fact that her father was pro-statehood. Later in life, she also became an advocate of statehood. Upon graduating from high school she went to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and earned her Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
from Manhattanville College
Manhattanville College
Manhattanville College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, located in Purchase, New York. Founded in 1841 it was known initially as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart...
. She is a member of Mu Alpha Phi
Mu Alpha Phi
Mu Alpha Phi is a sorority established in Puerto Rico on October 24, 1927. It is considered to be the first Puerto Rican sorority founded in the island. The sorority has Alumni and University chapters across the Island and even has an alumni chapter in Florida.-History:The sorority was...
sorority.
Ferré returned to Puerto Rico where in the 1970s she enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
to work on her Master's degree. During her tenure as a student, Ferré began her writing career as the founder, editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
and publisher of the journal Zona de Carga y Descarga along with her cousin Olga Nolla
Olga Nolla
Olga Nolla was a Puerto Rican poet, writer, journalist and professor.-Early life:...
. The journal was devoted to publishing new writers and to promoting the ideas of the independence movement. Among the novelists and short story writers of Puerto Rico, Ana Lydia Vega
Ana Lydia Vega
Ana Lydia Vega is a celebrated Puerto Rican female writer. She has received the Premio Juan Rulfo and the Premio Casa de las Américas . Vega was a professor of French literature and Caribbean studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras...
and Giannina Braschi
Giannina Braschi
Giannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican writer. She is credited with writing the first Spanglish novel YO-YO BOING! and the poetry trilogy Empire of Dreams , which chronicles the Latin American immigrant's experiences in the United States...
share Rosario Ferré's commitment to satire. Ferré also has written and published poems and a biography of her father. Upon earning her masters degree, Rosario enrolled in University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
where she graduated with a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature
Latin American literature
Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the second half of the 20th century, largely due to the...
. Ferré then obtained her PhD from the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
. Her doctoral thesis was titled: "La filiación romántica de los cuentos de Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar, born Jules Florencio Cortázar, was an Argentine writer. Cortázar, known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, influenced an entire generation of Spanish speaking readers and writers in the Americas and Europe.-Early life:Cortázar's parents, Julio José Cortázar and...
" (The romantic link between the stories of Julio Cortázar).
Literary career
Rosario Ferré started her literary career writing in Spanish. In 1976, Ferré published her first collection of short stories Papeles de Pandora. In 1977, she published a collection of her literary essays titled Sitio a Eros, which promoted political and social themes. In 1986, she published her first book Maldito Amor, which she self-translatedSelf-translation
Self-translation is a translation of a source text into a target text by the writer of the source text. Self-translation occurs in various writing situations...
into English as The House on the Lagoon. After Maldito Amor she switched to write the first versions of her books directly in English, but she continues to self-translate her books into Spanish. In 2002 she published a bilingual edition of poems Language Duel/Duelo del languaje.
Ferré's books include, among others, The Youngest Doll, The Battle of Virgins, The House on the Lagoon, Sweet Diamond Dust, Flight of the Swan and Eccentric Neighborhoods..
Honors
Ferré won the first prize in a short story contest of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño in 1974.In 1992, she was the recipient of the "Liberatur Prix" award from the Frankfurt Book Fair for Kristallzucker, the German translation of Maldito Amor. In 1997, she was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. Ferré was a Guggenheim fellowship recipient in 2004.
Personal
Upon finishing school, Ferré married a businessman named Benigno Trigo González and had three children, Rosario Lorenza, Benigno and Luis Alfredo. They divorced ten years later. While she studied in the Department for Hispanic Studies of the University of Puerto Rico, she met her second husband, José Aguilar Mora, a Mexican literature professor and writer. They divorced after a few years. While she studied at the University of MarylandUniversity of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
and lived in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
she met her third husband, Agustín Costa Quintano, a Puerto Rican architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
. They later moved to Puerto Rico, where they currently reside. Dr. Rosario Ferré is currently a professor at the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
and was a contributing editor for The San Juan Star
The San Juan Star
The now-defunct The San Juan Star was an English-language, Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The newspaper was published by Star Media Network, a subdivision of San Juan Star, Inc., which once owned San Juan City Magazine, El Mayagüez Star, and El Ponce Star.The...
, Puerto Rico's former English language newspaper. Ferré has also been a visiting professor at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
and Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
.
Fiction
- "Flight of the Swan|El Vuelo del Cisne", 2001; Spanish version: "El Vuelo del Cisne", 2002
- "La extraña muerte del Capitancito Candelario", 2002.
- "Eccentric Neighborhoods|Vecindarios excentricos",1998; Spanish version: "Vecindarios excentricos", 1999
- "The House on the Lagoon", 1995; Spanish version: "La casa de la laguna", 1997
- "La Batalla de Las Vírgenes", 1994
- "The Youngest Doll", 1991 (an English version of "Papeles de Pandora")
- "Sonatinas. Cuentos de niños", 1991
- "Maldito Amor", 1985; English version: "Sweet Diamond Dust and Other Stories",1989
- "El Medio Pollito", 1981
- "Papeles de Pandora", 1976
Essays
- "Las Puertas del Placer", 2005
- "A la sombra de tu nombre" (The Shadow of Your Name) Published by Alfaguara; 2001
- "Destiny, Language, and Translation; or, Ophelia Adrift in the C & O Canal." In The "Youngest Doll"; By Ferré. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1991. 153-65.
- "El Coloquio de las Perras" Published by Editorial Cultural, 1991
- "Cortázar: El Romántico en su Observatorio"; Puerto Rico; Editorial Cultura, 1991
- "El Arbol y sus Sombras (The tree and its shadows)"; Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1990
- "La autenticidad de la mujer en el arte"
- "El Acomodador: una lectura fantastica de Felisberto Hernandez (The Accommodator: a fantastic lecture by Felisberto Hernandez)", 1986
- "Sitio a Eros: Quince ensayos literarios", 1986
- "La cocina de la escritura." In Literatures in Transition: The Many Voices of the Caribbean Area. Ed. Rose S. Minc. Gaithersburg: Hispamérica/Las Américas, 1982. 37-51.
- "Sitio a Eros"; Trece ensayos literarios, 1980
Poetry
- "Fisuras", 2006
- "Language Duel/Duelo del Lenguaje", 2003
- "Antología Personal"; 1992-1976, 1994
- "Fabulas de la Garza Desangrada", 1982
- "Las dos Venecias"; Poemas y cuentos, 1992
Biographies
- "Memorias de PoncePonce, Puerto RicoPonce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
; Biografía de Don Luis A. FerréLuis A. FerréDon Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party which advocates for Puerto Rico...
"; Published by Editorial Norma, 1992
Critical Studies of Ferré's Work
- Acosta Cruz, María I. “Historia, ser e identidad femenina en ‘El collar de camándulas’ y ‘Maldito amor’ de Rosario Ferré.” Chasqui 22.2 (1993): 23-31.
- Acosta Cruz, María I.“Historia y escritura femenina en Olga Nolla, Magali García Ramis, Rosario Ferré y Ana Lydia Vega.” Revista Iberoamericana 59 (1993): 265-77.
- Allatson, Paul. "Rosario Ferré’s Trans-'American' Fantasy, or Subalternizing the Self," in Latino Dreams: Transcultural Traffic and the U.S. National Imaginary. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2002, 59-108.
- Apter-Cragnolino, Aída. “De sitios y asedios: la escritura de Rosario Ferré.” Revista Chilena de Literatura 42 (1993): 25-30.
- Bustos Fernández, María José. “Subversión de la autoridad narrativa en Maldito amor de Rosario Ferré.” Chasqui 23.1 (1994): 22-29.
- Cavallo, Susana. “Llevando la contraria: el contracanto de Rosario Ferré.” Monographic Review-Revista Monográfica 8 (1992): 197-204.
- Filer, Malva E. “Polifonía y contrapunto: la crónica histórica en ‘Maldito amor,’ y The House on the Lagoon.” Revista Hispánica Moderna 49.2 (1996): 318-28.*
- Garrigós, Cristina. *"Bilingües, biculturales y posmodernas: Rosario Ferré y Giannina BraschiGiannina BraschiGiannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican writer. She is credited with writing the first Spanglish novel YO-YO BOING! and the poetry trilogy Empire of Dreams , which chronicles the Latin American immigrant's experiences in the United States...
," , Insula. Revista de Ciencias y Letras, 2002 JUL-AGO; LVII (667-668). - Gazarian Gautier. "Rosario Ferré." Interviews with Latin American Writers. Elmwood Park, IL: Dalkey Archive Press, 1989. 81-92.
- Gould Levine, Linda y Gloria Feiman Waldman. "No más máscaras: Un diálogo entre tres escritoras del Caribe: Belkis Cuza Malé - Cuba, Matilde Daviú - Venezuela, Rosario Ferré - Puerto Rico." Literatures in Transition: The Many Voices of the Caribbean Area: A Symposium. Ed. Rose S. Minc. Gathersburg: Hispamérica, 1982. 189-197.
- Heinrich, María Elena. "Entrevista a Rosario Ferré." Prismal/Cabral 7-8 (1982): 98-103.
- Hintz, Suzanne S. Rosario Ferré, A Search for Identity. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1995.
- Jaffe, Janice A. “Translation and Prostitution: Rosario Ferré’s Maldito Amor and Sweet Diamond Dust.” Latin American Literary Review 23.46 (1995): 66-82.
- Mullen, Edward. “Interpreting Puerto Rico’s Cultural Myths: Rosario Ferré and Manuel Ramos OteroManuel Ramos OteroManuel Ramos Otero was a Puerto Rican writer. He is widely considered to be the most important openly gay twentieth-century Puerto Rican writer who wrote in Spanish, and his work was often controversial due to its sexual and political content...
.” Americas Review 17 (1989): 88-97. - Pérez Marín, Carmen I. “De la épica a la novela: la recuperación de la voz en Maldito amor de Rosario Ferré.” Letras Femeninas 20.1-2 (1994): 35-43.
- Skinner, Lee. “Pandora’s Log: Charting the Evolving Literary Project of Rosario Ferré.” Revista de Estudios Hispánicos 29 (1995): 461-75.
- Vega Carney, Carmen. “El amor como discurso político en Ana Lydia Vega y Rosario Ferré.” Letras Femeninas 22.1-2 (1991): 77-87.
- Zapata, Miguel Angel. "Rosario Ferré: La poesía de narrar." Inti 26-27 (1987–1988): 133-140.
See also
- List of Puerto Rican writers
- List of Famous Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican literature
- Luis A. FerréLuis A. FerréDon Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party which advocates for Puerto Rico...