UT African and African Diaspora Professor Wins Fellowship for Puerto Rican Writers
- Feb 11, 2022
Professor and poet Mónica A. Jiménez has received a new fellowship designed to amplify the voices of Puerto Rican writers.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund created the Letras Boricuas Fellowship to foster works celebrating Puerto Rican life and culture. It aims to help emerging and established writers on the island and across the United States elevate their writing to reach a broader audience.
Jiménez is an assistant professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Her writing and research explore the intersections of race, law and colonialism in Latin America and the Caribbean. As part of the fellowship, she will receive $25,000 to aid her work.
“Receiving the Letras Boricuas Fellowship is not only an honor and a gift, but also an affirmation,” Jiménez said. “As a writer and a scholar, I do the work that I do because I feel called to it, but often with doubts as to its necessity, relevance or importance. This fellowship is confirmation that there is value in the work and in the ideas. It helps me believe that my words can matter, and it helps push me to keep thinking and writing.”
