Jaime Martínez Tolentino (born Salinas, Puerto Rico, January 10, 1943) is a Puerto Rican

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

.

Early life and education

At the age of four, Martinez Tolentino contracted polio, which has left him crippled.
In 1951, he and his family emigrated to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 where he lived until 1966. He attended New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 where he majored in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 and French literature

French literature

French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...

, while also studying Spanish literature

Spanish literature

Spanish literature generally refers to literature written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the state of Spain...

 and German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

. As an undergraduate he participated actively in the theater.

Academic career

After earning a B.A. and an M.A in French literature, he returned, briefly, to his native Puerto Rico where he was named French professor at The University of Puerto Rico

University of Puerto Rico

The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...

. Then he left for Europe to pursue further studies. In France, he studied French at the Sorbonne

Sorbonne

The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

, and then he relocated to Spain, where he studied both French and Hispanic Literature. He received a Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 in French Literature from the University of Madrid

University of Madrid

The Complutense University of Madrid is a public university in Madrid, Spain, and one of the oldest universities in the world.The University of Madrid may also refer to:* The Autonomous University of Madrid, a public university founded in 1968...

, and then he returned to Puerto Rico.

Between 1970 and 1984, Martinez Tolentino taught French at the Mayaguez Campus of the University of Puerto Rico, and he also published three books on French. Also during this period, he published a full-length play, and in 1984, he directed its staged version. One of his short stories was adapted for the stage in Puerto Rico in 1979.

Writing career

It was also during this period that he joined the group of young Puerto Rican writers connected to the literary magazine Mester: the novelist Carmelo Rodríguez Torres, the narrator Wilfredo Ruiz Oliveras, and the poets Luis Cartañá and Sotero Rivera Avilés. Under their influence, Martinez Tolentino began publishing short stories in journals and newspapers, and in 1975, he edited an anthology of their short stories. In 1980, he published his play La imagen del otro, and three years later, an original collection of short stories of the fantastic.

As he continued publishing in Spanish, his interest in Hispanic literature grew. He began taking graduate courses in Spanish and Puerto Rican literature, and then taught Spanish literature at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, while still also teaching French at the UPR.

In 1984, Martinez Tolentino resigned from his position as a French professor. He attended Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 in Indiana, where he acquired fluency in Portuguese, and then he transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

, where he received a second M.A. and a second Ph.D. in Spanish and Latin American literature.

In 1990, he became a Spanish professor at the State University of New York's College at Buffalo

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...

, where he continued writing and producing plays. He retired from teaching in 2002, but not from writing and publishing.

Fiction - books

• Cuentos modernos (Antología). Jaime Martinez Tolentino, Ed., Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Edil, 1975.
• La imagen del otro (Drama). San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1980.
• Cuentos fantásticos. Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1983.
• Desde el fondo del caracol y otros cuentos taínos. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1992.
• Taino (Novel). IN PRESS.
• Cuentos fantásticos (2a edición) -IN PRESS.
• El campamento número cuatro; En el ojo de la tormenta; El largo sueño de Doña Manuela (Teatro) - IN PRESS.

Fiction - short stories and one-act plays

• "La tormenta", Isla Literaria (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 2.8,9,10 (1971): 14.
• "Miedo", Atenea (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico), 7.2 (1971): 93-95.
• "Miedo", Claridad (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 31 January 1976, Supplemento "En Rojo": 14.
• "Miedo", Momento (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 10 September 1977.
• "Su regreso", Inti (Providence, Rhode Island), 12 (1980): 93-97.
• "Una voz que grita adentro, desde el fondo del caracol", Renacimiento (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico), 1.2 (1981):113-122.
• "La armónica mágica", Gente Joven, (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 4.9 (1982): 60-61.
• "Esos dioses venidos del bagua", Alba de América, 6.3-4 (1990): 427-433.
• "His Return", Top Ten Short Stories of 1993. Owings Mills, MD: American Literary Press, 1993. 29-33.
• "El largo sueño de doña Manuela", Sección “Textos teatrales puertorriqueños,” Boletín del Archivo Nacional de Teatro y Cine del Ateneo Puertorriqueño, Núm. 4 (julio a diciembre de 2005): 237-240.

Non-fiction - books

• El Enfermo imaginario (Annotated Edition of Molière’s Le Malade imaginaire), Jaime Martínez-Tolentino, Ed., New York: Plus Ultra Educational Publishers, 1977.
• Normas ortográficas del francés. Boston: Florentia Publishers, 1977.
• Le Verbe français. Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1979.
• Veinte siglos después del homicidio. By Carmelo Rodríguez Torres. 3rd ed., Jaime Martínez Tolentino, Ed. and Introduction. Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Antillana, 1980. 13-30.
• El indiano en las comedias de Lope de Vega. Acta Columbina 15. Kassel, Germany: Edition Reichenberger, 1991.
• Literatura hispánica e hispanoamericana: Tres autores revalorados: Ricardo Palma, Julián del Casal y Jacinto Benavente. Problemata lberoamericana 5. Kassel, Germany: Edition Reichenberger, 1992.
• La cronología de "Señas de identidad”, de Juan Goytisolo. Problemata Literaria 13. Kassel, Germany: Edition Reichenberger, 1992.
• Caminos (selección poética). By Ramón M. Estrada Vega. Jaime Martínez Tolentino, Ed. and prologue. Problemata Iberoamericana 8. Kassel, Germany: Edition Reichenberger, 1996: xiii-cvii.
• La crítica literaria sobre Alfonsina Storni (1945–1980). Problemata Iberoamericana 10. Kassel, Germany: Edition Reichenberger, 1997.
• Alfonsina Storni: Selección poética. Jaime Martínez Tolentino, Ed. Problemata Iberoamericana 14. Kassel, Germany: Edition Reichenberger, 1998.
• Dos crónicas desconocidas sobre Lope de Aguirre - IN PRESS.

Non-fiction in journals and newspapers

• "El prefacio de La comedia humana: Un importante documento literario", Atenea (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico), 5.1-2
• (1968): 109-116.
• "Las ciencias biológicas en La Comédie Humaine", Filologia Moderna (Madrid, Spain), 40-41 (November 1970-
• February 1971): 111-136.
• "De la cognomología en la literatura", La Torre (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico), 20.75-76 (1972): 161-65
• "Traducen al francés una novela puertorriqueña", El Mundo (San Juan, Puerto Rico), December 17, 1978: B-22.
• "Una introducción al cuento fantástico", Renacimiento (Río Piedras, Puerto Rico), 1.1 (1981): 15-29.
• "Nueva novela puertorriqueña es 'sensacional'", La Estrella del Oeste (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico), 21 April
• 1982): 7.
• "Alfonsina Storni y Gabriela Mistral: La poesía como condena o salvación", Escritura (Caracas, Venezuela),
• 8.16 (1983): 223-230.
• "Mi mamá me ama, de Emilio Díaz Valcárcel: Cómo se satiriza una visión distorsionada de Puerto Rico", Cuadernos
• Americanos (Mexico, D.F.), 43.252.1 (1984): 216-226.
• "La familia como fuente de todo mal en El obsceno pájaro de la noche, de José Donoso", Revista de Crítica
• Literaria Latinoamericana (Lima, Peru), 11.23 (1986): 73-79.
• "La mujer como némesis del hombre en El túnel", Quaderni Ibero-Americani (Turin, Italy), 16.8.61-62
• (December 1986, July – December 1987): 193-200.
• "Algunas observaciones sobre la novela Al filo del agua suscitadas por un ensayo de Alfonso Reyes", Escritura (Caracas, Venezuela), 12.23-24 (1987): 123-137.
• "El salón de Guillermo Martínez", La Estrella de Puerto Rico (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico), 4–10 August 1988: 18. Book Review of In Search of the City: Engels, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, By Marc Eli Blanchard. Romance Quarterly 36.1 (1989): 112-113.
• "Machado y el alma española en 'A orillas del Duero'", Escritura, 15.29 (1990): 85-94.
• "Las opiniones literarias de Julián Del Casal", La Torre (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico) 5.17 (1991): 19-55.
• "La irrealización del paisaje en María y Cumandá", Texto y Contexto (Bogotá, Colombia), 25 (1994): 126-131.
• "El indiano en tres comedias de Lope de Vega", Teatro (Alcalá de Henares, Spain) 5 (2001): 83-96.
• "La génesis de un drama", Boletín del Archivo Nacional de Teatro y Cine del Ateneo Puertorriqueño, Núm. 4 (julio a diciembre de 2005): 42-45.
• "On Writing 1st Chapters; Dean Koontz's Strangers", April 16, 2001: Barnes & Noble.com

Awards

• Second Prize, Short Story Category, “Jogos Florais”, Lisbon, Portugal, 1970.
• Honors Certificate for Literary Merit and Contributions to Puerto Rican Letters, Sociedad de Autores Puerrtorriqueños, San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 17, 1984.
• Finalist, Short Story Category, "Premio Literario Letras de Oro," American Express and the University of Miami, 1988.
• Certificate, “Primer Concurso Internacional Sobre la Historia de Puerto Rico” [First International Contest On Puerto Rican History], Consejo Superior de Educación de Puerto Rico [Puerto Rican Council of Higher Education], San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1989.
• Semi-Finalist, Short Story Contest 1993, American Literary Press, 1993.
• 1993 Western New York Writer-In-Residence, "Just Buffalo Literary Center," Buffalo, N.Y., 1993.
• Finalist, “Family Matters” Category, 2007 Glimmer Train Magazine Literary Awards, Portland, Oregon.