René Marqués

René Marqués (October 4, 1919 – March 22, 1979) was a Puerto Rican short story writer and playwright.

 Life 
He studied at the College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. He earned a degree in agronomy in 1942. He studied drama at the University of Madrid in 1946 and Columbia University in New York in 1949. Family. He married Serena Velasco in 1942. They  divorced in 1957. He had two sons and one daughter. 

He had many jobs.  He worked as an agronomist for the Department of Agriculture (1943-46).  He managed a department store from 1946 to 1949. He was also a college teacher and a journalist in San Juan in the 1950s. He founded the Experimental Theater of the Atheneum in 1951. 

He won a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1949.  He also won many literary prizes in Puerto Rico. 

 Theatrical works 
He wrote theater plays, short stories, and essays.   His most famous play is "The Oxcart (1956)" or "La Carreta" (which means "The Wagon"). It is the story of a Puerto Rican family who move from Puerto Rican countryside to New York City for a better life. The family has a hard time becoming like their neighbors. They go back home to live on a farm in Puerto Rico, but they find it is hard to go back to the way they were.  

In 1959, he published three plays in one book. The book was called Teatro ("Theater"). The first play was La muerte no entrará en palacio ("Death Will Not Enter the Palace"). This play was about a governor who betrays his ideals. The second play was called Un niño azul para esa sombra ("A Blue Child for That Shadow"). The third play was the most successful, Los soles truncos ("Maimed Suns").  Los soles truncos tells the story of three sisters who do not like modern life.

He influenced later Puerto Rican playwrights, such as Luis Rafael Sanchez (author of Antigone), Pedro Pietri (author of The Masses are Asses), and Lin-Manuel Miranda (author of Hamilton). He influenced the Puerto Rican writer Giannina Braschi (author of Yo-Yo Boing!). 

Related pages

 Puerto Rico
 Puerto Rican literature 

 References 

Category:1919 births
Category:1979 deaths
Category:Puerto Rican writers
Category:American playwrights
Category:American essayists