The Puerto Rican Literature Project

Caridad de la Luz, also known as “La bruja,” was born in 1977 in the Bronx, New York. She is a poet, actress, teaching artist, singer-songwriter, and activist. Growing up in the Bronx, she attended Murry Bergtraum High School and studied literature and theater arts at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. De la Luz made her debut at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in 1996, reciting poetry, but expanded to performing songs and comedy sketches. She currently serves on the cafe’s board of directors. She has appeared in movies such as Bamboozled (200), Down to the Bone (2004), and Release (2019); and wrote and recorded vocals with various artists, including Afrika Bambaata, Fat Joe, Cypress Hill, Hurricane G, Chingo Bling, and others. In 2005, New York’s El Diario named her one of the 50 outstanding Latinas. De la Luz has received various accolades and awards, including the 2015 Best Musical for Betsy, 2019-21 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, the Puerto Rican Women Legacy Award, the Bronx County Historical Society Edgar Allan Poe Award, and Living Legend of the Bronx. De la Luz leads writing and acting workshops for young and emerging artists across the United States and is working on developing her own art studio in the Bronx, El Garaje. In 2022, she debuted her musical performance, From Poor to Rico. Her poetry has appeared in various literary magazines, including AWOL, El Centro, El Vocero, Shout, Source, Stress Magazines, Urban, and Vibe.

Works Cited

“Author.” Caridad de la Luz, caridaddelaluz.com/index.php/author/caridad777/. 

“Caridad De La Luz.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/caridad-de-la-luz.

“Caridad ‘La Bruja’ De La Luz.” IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115863/?ref_=fn_all_nme_4. 

“Latinas destacadas 2005.” El Diario, 8 April 2005,https://web.archive.org/web/20050408094835/http://www.eldiariony.com/noticias/especiales/detail.aspx?EspecialId=26&id=1098418. 

Rohter, Larry. "A Wise(cracking) Latina Makes Her Way Onstage." The New York Times, 18 July 2009.