author
Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz
1651–1695
A brilliant nun, poet, and scholar from colonial Mexico, she turned the convent into a place of fierce learning and unforgettable writing. Her work blends wit, intellect, and a bold defense of women's right to study and speak.
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About the author
Born in San Miguel Nepantla in New Spain, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz became famous for her extraordinary intellect at a young age. She entered the convent of San Jerónimo in Mexico City, where she was able to pursue the reading, study, and writing that shaped her life.
She is now regarded as one of the most important writers of the Hispanic Baroque and of colonial Latin America. Sor Juana wrote poetry, plays, and prose, and she is especially remembered for the sharp intelligence of her verse and for her defense of women's education in works such as Respuesta a Sor Filotea.
Her life has also become part of her legacy: admired in her own time as the "Tenth Muse," she continues to be read as a major literary voice whose work joined faith, curiosity, humor, and intellectual independence.