Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15, celebrating the achievements, contributions, and perspectives of folks from Hispanic and Latina/o/e backgrounds. There are so many incredible recent books by Hispanic authors, including some in translation, and here we offer a small selection for your enjoyment.
We Are Green and Trembling by Argentinian author Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated from the Spanish by Robin Meyers, is based on the real-life story of 17th century Spanish explorer/conquistador Antonio de Erauso. Raised as a girl in a Basque convent, he escapes out into the New World, living as a man, and writing letters of his escapades to his aunt back in Spain. This is the backdrop for a picaresque story of gender identity, the devastation of colonialism, genocide, redemption, and religion.
Bolivian author Rodrigo Hasbún follows two narratives, one in Bolivia and one in the United States in The Invisible Years, translated by Lily Meyer. Julián hasn’t spoken to Andrea in twenty-one years, not since they were in high school together in 1990s Bolivia. But when narrator Julián hears from Andrea, he’s living in Houston, and she’s just read a fictionalized account of her own (illegal and dangerous) abortion in his novel. This metafictional read alternates between the past and the present, keeping the reader unsure what is real and what is fiction.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of the most prolific Hispanic authors writing right now, covering genres from fantasy to horror, historical fiction to magical realism, and her new novel The Intrigue takes on gritty noir in 1940s Mexico. Con man Ulises thinks he’s found the perfect mark in the spinster Perla, but he didn’t count on the wiles of Perla’s niece, Inés. Inés is trying to get out from under the thumb of Perla and tries to get in on the con, but Perla proves to be a harder mark than either anticipated.
We have to talk about horror if we’re talking about contemporary Hispanic/Latine literature, and Ito Romo’s Filth Eaters is a great one to try. This vampire epic spans generations, using the colonization, violence, and survival of vampires as a metaphor for the Chicano experience. Romo both leans into and subverts typical vampire tropes, turning the genre into something new, unexpected, and menacing.
I Give You My Silence is Peruvian author and Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa’s final novel, published in the United States posthumously in 2025, translated by Adrian Nathan West. This existential read tackles idealism, Peruvian history, and culture through Toño Azpilcueta, a professor of Peruvian criollo music, pursuing the ultimate achievement in his scholarly career.
For more titles, check out Hispanic Heritage Month 2026: Recent Fiction for Adults.
~posted by Jane S.