Sor Juana, the 10th Muse

July 5, 2019

For JSTOR Daily, Matthew Wills remembers Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th-century nun who went on to become the founding mother of Mexican literature. From inside the convent, Sor Juana ran a literary salon and published poetry, comedies, drama, and more that expressed her political opinions. “[La Respuesta] was a passionately autobiographical defense of women’s intellectual rights and abilities. It was written in response to a Bishop’s criticism that she was too preoccupied with secular learning. The Bishop wrote his accusations under a female pen-name, pretending to be another Sor, or Sister.”

Image credit: Museum of the Americas

is a writer and illustrator. She is the author of two illustrated books, Last Night's Reading (Penguin Books, 2015) and Sanpaku (Archaia 2018).