The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll irrespective of nationalities, borders and today I dedicate this post to a luminary Puerto Rican intellectual and author Iris Zavala, who passed away on 11th April 2020 in Madrid, Spain due to the complications from Coronavirus infection. At UC Berkeley, we are responsible for maintaining the consortial collection of Puerto Rican authors. Her obituary can be read here and here.
In our collection, there are over fifty books that Iris Zavala had authored that highlight the unending beauty of Spanish and Caribbean Literature. Some of her works such as “Percanta que me amuraste“, “Nocturna mas no funesta” and others including, “Leer el Quijote…” are well known throughout the literary universe. RIP Iris M. Zavala, I leave the readers with a video of her interview about her book – “El bolero: historia de un amor (1991).”