Giannina Braschi

PEN World Voices Festival named Giannina Braschi "one of the most revolutionary voices in Latin America today."

She wrote the postmodern poetry classic EMPIRE OF DREAMS and the Spanglish tour de force novel YO-YO BOING! The Associated Press praised Braschi's explosive new book UNITED STATES OF BANANA as a work of unlimited imagination and fearless language. Writing in Spanish, Spanglish, and English, Braschi explores the cultural and linguistic journey of millions of Hispanic immigrants to the USA and challenges the three politic options of her native Puerto Rico--Nation, Colony or State.

Giannina Braschi was a singer, tennis champion, and fashion model during her teen years in San Juan, before discovering literature as her calling.

With a Ph.D. in Golden Age Spanish Literature from the State University of New York-Stony Brook, she has written books and essays on the great Spanish poets Cervantes, Becquer, Garcilaso, Lorca, and Machado. She has won grant and awards from National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, Ford Foundation, Danforth Scholarship, InterAmericas, Reed Foundations, Rutgers University, Puerto Rican Institute of Culture, and PEN American Center. She has also served as judge for the PEN book awards. Her collected poetry in English translation inaugurated the Yale Library of World Literature.

http://gianninabraschi.wordpress.com/about/

Contact: gbraschi@verizon.net