About Us

When José Yglesias met Mary Jo Melone for an interview in 1989, Arte Público had recently agreed to re-release all of his novels, in addition to three new works. Nevertheless, Melone writes, "Yglesias was convinced, as most writers are, that his work would vanish with him." Rafael Yglesias adds, "If he had died even a year ago...he would have been very bitter...that everything he had recorded was going to be lost." Despite the re-publication of his fiction, Yglesias is not a well known name in Ybor City today. Many who live there or who visit the Ybor City State Park Museum are unaware that the town's history has been captured in Yglesias's literature. Moreover, local libraries carry few copies of his books.

This website was created by four graduate students enrolled in Dr. Laura Runge's Literature of Florida: Place course at the University of South Florida. In partnering with the Ybor City Museum State Park, we hope to highlight Yglesias's contributions to Florida literature so that his accomplishments as an author are not forgotten. We also hope to encourage visitors to read Yglesias's works. Exhibiting a demand for his writing may prompt vendors to purchase additional copies of the novels. Please consider checking with your library or ordering a Yglesias novel online.

Thank you for viewing our website! Feel free to email us with questions or comments.

-Haili Alcorn, Neal Fischer, Megan Mandell, and Michael Stowe

"José always said that Tampa, particularly Latin Tampa, had never read his books. The little restaurants in Latin Tampa, that is, West Tampa and Ybor City, thrive on cafe con leche and mostly the kind of talk José summed up in his novels as hectoring. If in all that talk, there was no word of the neighborhood's famous literary son - what a slight it would be."

-Mary Jo Melone, "Remembering José Yglesias"