Jose B. Gonzalez/Special to CTLatinoNews.com
With the oldest tradition of picking Latino literary talent in the U.S., LatinoStories.Com is proud to announce 2017’s list of Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch (and Read). LatinoStories has been and advocate for Latino literature for since 2005. Founded by Jose B. Gonzalez, the author of the new poetry collection, Toys Made of Rock, it has been featured on national television and has been hailed by such authors as Junot Diaz, as “Exactly what the community has been looking for.”
CTLatinoNews.com is once again proud to share this list and highlight Latino authors.
1. Amalia Ortiz has been on the spoken word scene for years. HBO’s Def Poetry highlighted her talent, while her poetry collection, Rant. Chant. Chisme., demonstrates why she has a strong following.
2. Yesenia Montilla’s The Pink Box tackles serious and timely themes in a sometimes jazzy, always musical style.
3. Harrison Candelaria Fletcher’s Presentamiento: A Life in Dreams is written so masterfully that it leaves the reader pleasantly dizzy and wanting more.
4. Gabby Rivera shows off her writing skills in Juliet Takes a Breath, an inspirational debut coming-of-age tale that covers LGBTQ as well as educational themes for all youth.
5. Isabel Quintero’s young adult novel, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces is not afraid of tackling 
tough subjects and realistic characters that tell it like it is.
6. Lorenzo Pablo Martinez gives us an enlightening and touching look at the Peter 
Pan program in Cuba Adios: A Young Man’s Journey of Freedom.
7. Bryan Allen Fierro’s Dodger Blue Will Fill Your Soul is written so masterfully that you will think it’s not a debut collection.
8. Carolina Ebeid’s lyrics dazzle in You Ask Me to Talk About the Interior, a debut collection of poems that is sure to establish her as someone to listen to for years to come.
9. Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is creating a lot of buzz with her debut poetry collection, 
Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge.
10.Celeste Leon’s Luck is Just the Beginning is just the beginning for this author whose story about a lottery winner is a literary roller coaster.
Jose B. Gonzalez is the author of the poetry collection, Toys Made of Rock. He was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, and immigrated to New London, Connecticut at the age of eight. A 2012 Fulbright Scholar to Spain, he has been the recipient of such honors as the 2009 American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Outstanding Latino Faculty of the Year Award, Connecticut’s Higher Education Multicultural Faculty of the Year Award and has published poetry in such journals as Callaloo, The Teacher’s Voice, Palabra, Acentos Review, Calabash and Colere, and anthologies including Coloring Book, Nantucket: A Collection, and Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature, which he also co-edited. His work was most recently included in a special edition of OCHO featuring Latino poets. He was the recipient of the 2006 Poet of the Year Award presented by the New England Association of Teachers of English. In addition, he has contributed critical and nonfiction essays to such journals as New England Quarterly and to National Public Radio. He has been featured in the nationally syndicated show, American Latino TV, as well as Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education.
Jose infuses his presentations with a mix of poetry, humor, and social commentary. He holds a Master’s in Teaching in English from Brown University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rhode Island. He has presented at various conferences, schools and colleges such as Cornell University, Yale University, Harvard University, Wright State University, University of Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut State University, Connecticut College, Boston College, and he has been keynote speaker for a number of Hispanic Heritage Month events. For information on scheduling him for a speaking engagement, e-mail: jgonzalez@latinostories.com.
