Scholar Richard Jackson challenges readers to broaden their view of the Hispanic literary canon beyond that written by Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to encompass the vast riches offered in the works of Black Hispanic writers such as Afro-Colombian Manuel Zapata Olivella, one of the most prolific black authors writing in Spanish over the last fifty years; Pilar Barrios, the dean of black writers in Uruguay; Juan Pablo Sojo, author of the first black novel in Venezuela; and many others.

In this ground-breaking volume, Jackson considers major Black Latin American authors in poetry and prose from the early nineteenth century to the present, while highlighting the importance of fifteen key writers. Jackson demonstrates the central role played by writers such as the Cuban poets Juan Francisco Manzano and Nicolas Guillen and Ecuadorian novelist Adalberto Ortiz in the literary currents of Latin America.

Their words bring a comprehensive exploration of the Black experience in Latin America, in-depth insights into the Black psyche, and literary works that are ambiguous, complex, and historically ambitious. Black Hispanic writers address topics such as imperialism, oppression, slavery, racism, and race mixing. The stories they tell, which are as American and New World - and as human - as any other, are about heroism and courage, often within the framework of epic stories of Black people on the move.

Jackson examines race as the fundamental issue in Black Hispanic literature. Whether in autobiographical statements, fictional characterizations, or poetic personas, the authors' exploration of the race issue is part of what makes their works worth reading. In Jackson's view the authors' blackness not only enriches black literature but also the literary movements and forms represented by the conventional Hispanic canon.

Black Writers and the Hispanic Canon is a critical step toward introducing the works of Black Hispanic writers to a wider audience and bringing to light the varied, multicultural perspectives of Afro-Hispanic literature.