Himilce Novas is a novelist, poet, playwright, historian, and radio commentator. She has written for The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Connoisseur, and Cuisine, and is also the author of seven acclaimed published books, both fiction and non-fiction. She teaches American Literature and Writing and lectures widely on Latino history and culture.
Born into a family of prominent intellectuals with a journalistic tradition, Himilce Novas grew up in New York City and showed early signs of a promising writing career when, still in her early teens, several of her poems were published in a literary journal by Nobel Prize winner Camilo José Cela. As she rose through the ranks of the publishing industry in Doubleday & Co, Scholastic, Time Inc, etc, Novas continued her creative writing pursuits, turning her pen to playwrighting. Her play, "Free This Day: A Trial in Seven Exhibits," was published by Joseph Papp in Scripts and produced off Broadway to great critical acclaim.
Novas is the author of numerous works of fiction and non-fiction. Her fiction works include Mangos, Bananas and Coconuts: A Cuban Love Story (Arte Público Press, 1996; Riverhead/Penguin, 1997 paperback)and Princess Papaya (Arte Publico Press, 2005). Among her works of non-fiction are the popular Everything You Need to Know About Latino History (Plume/Penguin 1994;1997;2003); Latin American Cooking Across the USA (Knopf, 1997); La Buena Mesa (Knopf, 1997); Latino Art and Culture in the United States (The National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1996); Everything You Need to Know about Asian American History (Plume/Penguin, 1996; 2003 ); The Hispanic 100: A Ranking of the Latino Men and Women Who Have Most Influenced American Thought and Culture (Citadel Press, 1995); Remembering Selena: A Tribute in Pictures and Words / Recordando a Selena: Un tributo en palabras y fotos (St. Martin's Press, 1995).
Himilce Novas has taught literature and writing as visiting author at vatious colleges and universities, among them the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), Wellesley College and Tulane University.
While living and teaching in Santa Barbara, CA, Novas produced and hosted THE NOVAS REPORT, a talk radio program dealing with books and other cultural and contemporary issues from a unique international perspective and a solution-oriented approach to government, education, lifestyles and the arts. The Novas Report ranked as the Number One weekend talk-show.
Aside from her professional and literary endeavors, Novas, who resides in the West but spans both coasts, is an eloquent motivational speaker, lecturing across the country at the most prominent universities and prestigious speaking forums. See the writer's website at http://supernovas.org
