Bienvenidos! Welcome to La Decima Musa, a place designed to provide
resources and inspiration to writers, with an emphasis on Latinas and Latinos.
We want you to contribute. How? When you visit the Virtual Poetry Cafe, you can vote for your favorite poems, annotate your favorite lines, and submit your own work! You can also post messages in the Charlemos discussion forum. What would you like to see more of? Fill out our online feedback form and let us know. But most of all, have fun with the site!
Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz
Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait
with Loose Hair
The name "La Decima Musa," or "The Tenth Muse," refers to the classic Greek myth of the Nine Muses, and the way in which female poets have been designated as the tenth muse, perhaps to suggest the earthly embodiment of divine inspiration. Among these include Sappho, Anne Bradstreet ("The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America"), and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. My hope is that this website will become your Decima Musa, and that you will become sources of inspiration to each other.
This website was conceived as a project for my Hypermedia and English Studies seminar at the University of Texas at Austin. I would like to thank my fellow classmates for their input and inspiration, and special thanks to Jerome Bump for fostering a productive environment and allowing us to pursue our individual interests, which included author Arturo Islas, George Eliot's Middlemarch, and Black British Literature. You can visit these sites at Dr. Bump's E388M class home page.
My goal throughout my career has been to bring more Latino writers to the forefront. This site is reflects a synthesis of different elements from my publishing and media experience, and I hope that it will benefit you.
This site is still under construction (particularly during Summer 2000), but please check back in the fall for updates and new features.
