Author Description

The interest in Mexican Hieronimite nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695) is reaching extraordinary new levels. She has been the subject of plays, a feature film, scholarly conferences, books and articles. Nobel Laureate, poet Octavio Paz, has called her one of the great poets of the Spanish language and considers her Response to Sor Philotea de la Cruz to be the first intellectual autobiography in the Hispanic world. At her death in 1695, Sor Juana was an internationally-known poet, dramatist and religious writer. Today, she is still considered an exceptional lyric poet and one of the great writers of Spain's siglo de oro, its Golden Age of drama. Latin American literary scholars have been continually enthralled by this nun of humble beginnings who was educated at the vice regal court in Mexico City after being recognized as a child prodigy. Until recently, though, their attention has been focused on her secular poetry and drama, to the neglect of her religious works. Included here are: religious songs and devotional poetry; Sor Juana's sacramental drama and preface play, Divine Narcissus; two devotional works (first English translation), Devotional Exercises for the Feast of the Incarnation and Offerings for the Sorrows of Our Lady; a theological disputation, Critique of a Sermon/Athenagoric Letter and her autobiographical Response to Sor Philotea de la Cruz. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Selected WRITINGS in the Classics of Western Spirituality Series is essential reading for those interested in great literary figures, religious studies and women's history. +