Known as the king of Mexican rodeo, for performing in concerts on horseback, Mexican singer Joan Sebastian won the highest number of Grammy awards from his country. Over 20 of his songs made it to the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. An actor, too, he was seen in the telenovela Tú y yo.
Mexican nun Juana Inés de la Cruz was one of the finest authors of the Latin American colonial era. Initially the lady-in-waiting of Mexico’s viceroy, she later took her vows. She built a huge library and penned masterpieces such as the poem Primero sueño and the religious drama El divino Narciso.
Mexican poet and author Rosario Castellanos was one of the most prominent literary voices of Mexico and perhaps the most significant Mexican woman writer of the last century. Her literary work on cultural and gender oppression has greatly influenced Mexican feminist theory and cultural studies. Her notable works include her master’s thesis, Sobre cultura femenina and the poem Valium 10.
One of the greatest chroniclers of the Mexican Revolution, Gregorio López y Fuentes was initially a teacher and then a journalist who wrote using the pseudonym Tulio F. Peseenz. He soared to fame with his iconic work Campamento (Encampment), followed by Tierra (Earth) and El indio (The Indian).
Internationally renowned poet, playwright, and essayist Cherríe Moraga is also a true-blue feminist, who is openly lesbian. A founder-member of La Red Chicana Indígena, she works to preserve indigenous rights. She co-edited the feminist anthology This Bridge Called My Back and also teaches dramatic arts and writing.
Amado Nervo was a Mexican poet, educator, and journalist. Widely regarded as one of the most prominent poets of 19th century Mexico, Nervo was renowned for using metaphor as well as his references to mysticism in his poetry. Apart from being a respected literary figure, Amado Nervo also served as Mexican Ambassador to Uruguay and Argentina.
One of Mexico’s finest poets from the 20th century, José Emilio Pacheco was a Cervantes Prize winner. Initially an editor for publications such as La Cultura en Mexico, he later taught literature at the University of Essex. He had also translated the works of literary icons such as Samuel Beckett and Albert Einstein.
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera was a Mexican political figure and writer. He is remembered for his contribution as a writer, which bridged the gap between romanticism and the contemporaneous movements of Symbolism and modernismo in North America. His essay Art and Materialism is regarded as the first modernist manifesto. Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera is also credited with co-founding the magazine Revista Azul.
Ramón López Velarde was a Mexican poet whose work was viewed as a fitting reply to the French-influenced modernismo. A respected figure, López Velarde achieved great fame in Mexico and is often referred to as the national poet of Mexico.
Initially a physician and a professor of physiology, Enrique González Martínez later became one of the finest poets of Mexico, drawing on Modernism and French Symbolism. Best remembered for his iconic sonnet Wring the Neck of the Swan, he had also been a diplomat and had served in the Ministry of Education.
One of the finest cultural icons of Mexico, Ricardo Garibay was a dedicated journalist and a talented author and screenplay writer. Known for creating TV programs such as Autores y libros, he also penned the award-winning novel The House that Burns at Night. He was also known for his reckless lifestyle.