Benito Pastoriza Iyodo is an author of poetry, poetics, fiction and literary articles. The themes of his literary works include: man's evolution from childhood to adulthood, examination of self, the precipices of culture and its rituals, violence in the cities, examination of stereotypes, the constructs of communication, gender roles and sexuality, education systems and racism, exploitation and the manifestation of exclusion through political and economic powers. His ouvre is manifested in seven books: four collections of poetry, a novel and two books of short stories. Two books of poetry and one volume of short stories have been published in bilingual editions (the original Spanish and English). The author's poems and short stories have been included in anthologies and journals published in the United States, Latin America and Spain. (Hispanic Culture Review, Vol. XXV, 2018-2019, pp. 50, 74) Biography Benito Pastoriza Iyodo was born in Puerto Rico. He received his bachelor's degree in English and Hispanic Studies at the University of Puerto Rico. Later, he obtained his master's degree in Spanish Language and Literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He completed his doctoral coursework in Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago. He has been recognized through various literary prizes, including the Ateneo Puertorriqueño Prize, the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize, the Julio Cortázar Prize (Uruguay) and the Hispanic Culture Review Poetry Award. His writing has been influenced by the numerous cities where he has lived in the United States—New York, Philadelphia, Santa Barbara, Miami, Chicago and Houston—and his extensive travels throughout Latin America and Europe. Writing philosophy Pastoriza Iyodo has been interviewed several times and the dialogue usually returns to his philosophy on literary creation. In a 2006 interview for Chasqui (the Spanish-language literary magazine at Arizona State University) he was asked (rendered here in translated form): “What do you believe is the role of the writer in today’s dysfunctional society?” To this, Pastoriza Iyodo replied: “A little bit of everything. We must be chroniclers, observers of changing societies - we have to be the flashing yellow light saying: watch out - be careful - where are we going? - let’s not throw ourselves off a cliff. A writer has to be the pulse of a changing language that is constantly reinventing itself. But the writer must not forget that he should also cultivate an art whose intrinsic role is also to entertain, to make one laugh, think