I Am My Own Path

Selected Writings of Julia de Burgos

Edited by Vanessa Pérez-Rosario

University of Texas Press

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.

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

Everyone should rush out immediately and get a copy of this dazzling, monumental translation of Julia de Burgos’s extraordinary writing. The work of de 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 of Uterotopia: 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

Vanessa Pérez-Rosario is a translator and a professor at the City University of New York, and the managing editor of Small Axe, a project devoted to Caribbean cultural criticism. She is the author of Becoming Julia de Burgos: The Making of a Puerto Rican Icon, which is also available in Spanish.

Translating Julia de Burgos by Vanessa Pérez-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 Márquez
  - Río Grande de Loíza
  - Rio Grande de Loíza, translated by Grace Schulman
  - Rio Grande de Loíza, translated by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera
  - Momentos
  - Moments, translated by Urayoán Noel
  - Pentacromía
  - 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 Márquez
  - Mi alma
  - My Soul, translated by Carina del Valle Schorske
  - Ochenta mil
  - Eighty Thousand, translated by Vanessa Pérez-Rosario
  - Yo misma fui mi ruta
  - I Am My Own Path, translated by Vanessa Pérez-Rosario
- Canción de la verdad sencilla / Song of the Simple Truth
  - Poema detenido en un amanecer
  - Poem Confined in a Dawn, translated by Josefina Báez
  - Transmutación
  - Transmutation, translated by Jack Agüeros
  - Armonía de la palabra y el instinto
  - Word and Instinct in Harmony, Translated by Josefina Báez
  - Canción desnuda
  - Naked Song, translated by Josefina Báez
  - Yo fui la más callada
  - I Was the Quietest, translated by Carina del Valle Schorske
  - Te seguiré callada
  - I Will Follow You Hushed, translated by Aurora Levins Morales
  - Canción de tu presencia
  - Song of Your Presence, translated by Vanessa Pérez-Rosario
  - Canción de la verdad sencilla
  - Song of the Simple Truth, Translated by Roberto Márquez
- 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
  - Víctima de luz
  - Victim of Light, translated by Aurora Levins Morales
  - Canción amarga
  - Bitter Song, translated by Josefina Báez
  - Entre mi voz y el tiempo
  - Between My Voice and Time, translated by Josefina Báez
  - Dadme mi número
  - Give Me My Number, translated by Urayoán Noel
  - ¡Oh lentitud del mar!
  - Oh Slowness of the Sea!, translated by Vanessa Pérez-Rosario
  - ¡Oh mar, no esperes más!
  - Oh Sea, Wait no Longer!, translated by Josefina Báez
  - Poema para mi muerte
  - Poem for My Death, translated by Roberto Márquez
- Poemas sueltos / Loose Poems
  - Campo
  - Country, translated by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera
  - Countryside, translated by Robin Myers
  - Una canción 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
  - Canción a los pueblos de América y del mundo
  - Song to the Hispanic Peoples of America and the World, translated by Vanessa Pérez-Rosario
  - Canto a José Martí
  - Song for José Martí, translated by Vanessa Pérez-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 periodístico
  - Juan Bosch Triumphs in Journalism Contest
  - Cultura en función social
  - The Social Function of Culture
  - José de Diego, el hombre transmutado
  - José de Diego, the Transmuted Man
  - Con los héroes de la independencia hispanoamericana
  - With the Heroes of Hispanic American Independence
  - Presentación de Marigloria Palma
  - Introducing Marigloria Palma
  - Luis Lloréns Torres enfermo en Nueva York
  - Luis Lloréns Torres Ill in New York
  - Carmen Alicia Cadilla
  - Carmen Alicia Cadilla
- Entrevistas/Interview Essays
  - Plática con Esteban Soriano
  - A Conversation with Esteban Soriano
  - Con Narciso Figueroa, pianista puertorriqueño
  - 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 puertorriqueño
  - With Noro Morales, Musical Director of Orquesta Puertoriqueño
  - Con Conrado Vásquez, pintor revolucionario mexicano
  - With Conrado Vásquez, Revolutionary Mexican Painter
  - Con Josephine Premice y su arte folklórico haitiano
  - With Josephine Premice and Her Haitian Folk Art
  - Con Carlos Alfonso Ríos, poeta peruano
  - With Carlos Alfonso Ríos, Peruvian Poet
- Crónicas/Vignettes and Sketches
  - Perfiles de mexicanos, voces de México en Baltimore
  - Mexican Profiles, Voices of Mexico in Baltimore
  - Iris y Paloma en el Museo de Arte Hispánico
  - 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 niño
  - Puerto Rico in the Soul of a Child
Part III. Letters
Translated by Robin Myers
- The Burgos García Family
Acknowledgments
A Note on Translations and Editions
Notes
Bibliography to the Introduction
Contributors
Index