Helen Oyeyemi (born December 10, 1984) U.K.-Nigerian novelist
Clarice Lispector (born December 10, 1920) Ukrainian-Brazilian novelist - Near to the Wild Heart (1943)
Read a New Yorker article about Clarice Lispector here
"In the eighty-five stories that she wrote, Clarice Lispector conjures, first of all, the writer herself. From her earliest story, published when she was nineteen, to the last, found in scratchy fragments after her death, we follow a lifetime of artistic experimentation through a vast range of styles and experiences. This literature is not for everyone: even certain highly literate Brazilians have been baffled by the cult-like fervor she inspires. But for those who instinctively understand her, the love for the person of Clarice Lispector is immediate and inexplicable."
Read the Jewish Women's Archive article about Clarice Lispector here
Watch a short video about Lispector's life and her writing
here
Biographer and translator Benjamin Moser discusses Clarice Lispector here
Emily Dickinson (born December 10, 1830) U.S. poet
The Emily Dickinson Museum website is here
Watch an animation describing Emily Dickinson's poetry
here
Maria Benitez (Maria Bibiana Benitez Constanza) (born December 10, 1783) – Puerto Rican poet – "La ninfa de Puerto Rico" (1832)
Read more about Maria Bibiana Benitez (in Spanish) here
La ninfa de Puerto Rico / Child of Puerto Rico
(fragmento)
Salud, Santa Justicia, yo te adoro,
Tu bella luz derrama
sobre este suelo de oro,
que con solemne voto te proclama
su tutelar consejo y su tesoro!
Del invicto monarca que te envía
Yo soy la predilecta,
que sola presidía
en el ameno campo do reflecta
de eterna primavera claro día.
Pero el grande Fernando, cuyo pecho
en tu sagrado templo,
en lágrimas deshecho
dijo desde el alcázar:
Te contemplo lejana,
Puerto Rico, de milecho.
A la vejez / To Old Age
(fragmento)
¡Oh, tristes, siempre sombrías
memorias que me matáis!
si a mi mente no os mostráis
tales como entonces fuisteis,
¿para qué dichas me disteis
si agora me las quitáis?
...En el inmenso taller
en que la vida fabricas,
si todo lo haces perecer.
No te envidio tu poder,
avara naturaleza,
de la mágica belleza
artista sin corazón...
Read a short bio about Maria Bibiana Benitez here
This
article (in Spanish) describes the play that Maria Bibiana Benitez wrote:
"La Cruz del Morro"
(English translation)
The second dramatic work by María Bibiana Benítez is the drama La cruz del morro, published by Imprenta Guasp, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1862, although it was not published until June 16, 1897, the date when it premiered at the Municipal Theater of said capital. It is a historical drama that does not present great aesthetic virtues (poor versification and bad dramatic technique), but it touches on a patriotic theme that, wrapped up by some Calderonian influences, inflamed the love for the homeland of the Spanish in the colony.
Indeed, the beautiful Lola, in love with Captain Amezquita (a Spanish soldier who is in charge of the garrison defending El Morro) is also wanted by the evil Balduino, head of the Dutch troops who, in 1625, besieged said garrison. The Dutchman promises the release of the Spanish prisoners in exchange for Lola's favors, which she refuses. Finally, a singular duel between Amezquita and Balduino ends up repairing all the grievances. It has been pointed out that the courageous and positive presentation of the female figures in this dramatic piece makes María Bibiana Benítez the first feminist from Puerto Rico.