About
Giannina Braschi, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a groundbreaking Puerto Rican writer whose work fuses poetry, fiction, and political philosophy in bold, genre-defying ways. Beginning her journey as a fashion model, singer, and tennis champion, she later immersed herself in European literature, studying in Madrid, Florence, London, and Rouen before earning a PhD from the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Braschi has taught at Rutgers, the City University of New York, and Colgate, writing on literary figures such as Cervantes, Garcilaso, Machado, Bécquer, and Lorca. She is best known for her avant-garde books El imperio de los sueños/Empire of Dreams (1988), Yo-Yo Boing! (1998), United States of Banana (2011), and its graphic novel adaptation (2017), as well as the poetry collections Asalto al tiempo and La comedia profana. Described by CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies as “one of the most innovative writers of our time,” Braschi is an outspoken advocate for Puerto Rican independence, blending activism, artistic experimentation, and revolutionary discourse to challenge colonialism, capitalism, and inequality. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Ford Foundation, PEN America, and others, and was awarded the Cambio16 Prize in Spain (2021) and the Angela Y. Davis Award from the American Studies Association (2024) for her lifelong commitment to social justice. In the same year, her hometown of San Juan honored her global impact on Puerto Rican culture. Her latest award-winning work, Putinoika (2024), continues her radical aesthetic, calling for “soothsayers” over “storytellers” and advocating for art that transcends capitalist constraints through language, sound, and healing expression.
