Pagine1648–1695 · San Miguel Nepantla, New Spain (Mexico) · also known as Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sor Juana
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, called “the Tenth Muse,” was the greatest poet of colonial Spanish America. A child prodigy at the viceroy’s court in Mexico City, she became a nun largely so she could study, building one of the largest libraries in the Americas. Her poems — from the satirical “Hombres necios” to the long philosophical First Dream — and her Reply to Sor Filotea (1691), a brilliant defence of women’s right to learn, make her an early feminist icon. She appears on Mexico’s banknotes.
Begin with Reply to Sor Filotea.
Part of our Latin American Classics reading list — print it, email it to yourself or share it.
Machado de Assis · Rubén Darío · Horacio Quiroga · Gabriela Mistral · Jorge Luis Borges · Pablo Neruda · Juan Rulfo · Julio Cortázar · Gabriel García Márquez · Mario Vargas Llosa · Isabel Allende
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, called “the Tenth Muse,” was the greatest poet of colonial Spanish America. A child prodigy at the viceroy’s court in Mexico City, she became a nun largely so she could study, building one of the largest libraries in the Americas.
First Dream is usually considered Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s best-known work, followed by Reply to Sor Filotea.
Most readers start with Reply to Sor Filotea.
Both refer to the same writer. Other spellings and names include Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sor Juana.
Many of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s works are in the public domain; we link to free editions below.