Rosario Ferré

Rosario Ferré (birth name: Rosario Ferré Ramírez de Arellano[note 1]) was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, into one of Puerto Rico's wealthiest families. Her parents were the former First Family of Puerto Rico Luis A. Ferré (Governor) and Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano[3] She was the niece of the late Sor Isolina Ferré, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ferré received her primary education at Ponce, Puerto Rico. In 1951, she was sent to Wellesley, Massachusetts and attended Dana Hall School.[4]

Ferré began writing professionally at age 14, publishing articles in Puerto Rico's El Nuevo Día newspaper.[4] In her youth, Ferré was an advocate of independence,[4] despite the fact that her father was pro-statehood (and, later, she too became an advocate of statehood.) Upon graduating from high school she went to the United States where she gained her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and French[5] from Manhattanville College.[1] She was a member of Mu Alpha Phi sorority.[6]

Ferré returned to Puerto Rico where in the 1970s she enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico to study for her master's degree. During her time 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.[7] The Journal was also published along with the poet Luis Cesar Rivera.[8] In “Zona de Carga y Descarga”, Ferré published some of her own poetry along with short stories. The journal was devoted to publishing the works of new writers and to promoting the ideas of the independence movement. The journal ran for 9 issues, the first being published in 1972, and the last being published in 1975.[8] Among the novelists and short story writers of Puerto Rico to share Ferré's commitment to satire were Ana Lydia Vega and Giannina Braschi. Ferré also published poems and wrote a biography of her father.[1] Upon earning her master's degree, Ferré enrolled in the University of Maryland where she graduated with a PhD in Latin American Literature.[5] Her doctoral thesis was titled: "La filiación romántica de los cuentos de Julio Cortázar" (The romantic link between the stories of Julio Cortázar).[5]

Ferré began 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 entitled "Sitio a Eros", which promoted political and social themes. In 1986, she published her first book, "Maldito Amor", which she self-translated into English as "Sweet Diamond Dust." After publishing "Maldito Amor", she began to write the first versions of her other books in English[9] In 2002, she published a bilingual edition of poems "Language Duel/Duelo del language."[1] In order to write her novel, Memorias de Ponce. Autobiografía de Luis A. Ferré, she transcribed audio left by her father describing his childhood in Ponce, Puerto Rico.[10]

Ferré worked as a Professor at the University of Puerto Rico and was a contributing editor for The San Juan Star, which was once Puerto Rico's English language newspaper. Ferré has also been a visiting professor at Rutgers University and Johns Hopkins University.[1]

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".[2] In 1997, she was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Brown University. Ferré was a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient in 2004.[1] She is also recognized at Ponce's Tricentennial Park for her contributions in the field of literature.[11]

Upon finishing school, Ferré married Benigno Trigo González, a businessman, by whom she has three children: Rosario Lorenza, Benigno, and Luis Alfredo.[5] They divorced ten years later.[5]

While studying at the Department for Hispanic Studies of the University of Puerto Rico, she met her second husband, Jorge Aguilar Mora, a writer and Professor of Mexican literature;[5] they divorced after a few years.[5]

Ferré met her third husband, Agustín Costa Quintana, a Puerto Rican architect,[5] while living in Washington, D.C. They later moved to Puerto Rico, where they resided. Ferré died of natural causes, surrounded by family on February 18, 2016, in her home in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[12] She was buried at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in San Juan.[13]

Some of Ferré’s works are:[14]

• List of Puerto Rican writers
• Puerto Rican literature
• Latino/a literature
• Puerto Rican poetry
• Caribbean literature

• Dana Hall School
• Sin Pelos en la Lengua: Entrevista a Rosario Ferré
• Ferré, Rosario, and Archive Of Hispanic Literature On Tape. Puerto Rican writer Rosario Ferré reading from her prose and poetry. 1982. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/93842392/
• Rosario Ferré papers at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, NY