Oscar Jerome Hijuelos

Cuban-American novelist was the first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Best Work of Fiction. Hijuelos, of Cuban parents, was born and raised in the city of New York (northeastern United States). Much of his work stands out because he wrote about the adaptation of Latin Americans to American customs.

Hijuelos was born in Morningside Heights (Manhattan), the son of Cuban immigrants. He attended Corpus Christi School, before studying at Bronx Community College, Lehman College, and Borough of Manhattan Community College. Subsequently, he studied composition at City College of New York, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1975 and a master's degree in creative composition in 1976.

After graduating, he held several jobs before dedicating himself to writing full-time. His first novel, Nuestra casa en el fin del mundo (Our House in the Last World), was published in 1983 and received the Rome Prize two years later, awarded by the American Academy in Rome. His second novel, Los Reyes del Mambo tocan canciones de amor (The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love) won the Pulitzer Prize for Best Work of Fiction in 1990. Two years later, in 1992, the novel was adapted to film as Los reyes del mambo (The Mambo Kings). In 2005, a Broadway musical based on the novel was produced.

Hijuelos taught at Hofstra University and was part of the English Department at Duke University.
He passed away on October 12, 2013 in New York, at the age of 62, while playing a tennis match, he collapsed and never regained consciousness.2

Works
- Nuestra casa en el fin del mundo (Our House in the Last World, 1983), trans. by Jorge Luis Mustieles, ed. Siruela.
- Los Reyes del Mambo tocan canciones de amor (The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, 1989), trans. by Alejandro García Reyes, ed. Siruela. Pulitzer Prize for Best Work of Fiction. For the film: Los reyes del mambo.
- Las catorce hermanas de Emilio Montez O'Brien (The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, 1993), trans. by Maribel de Juan, ed. Tusquets.
- Las Navidades del señor Ives (Mr. Ives' Christmas, 1995). Not translated to Spanish.
- La emperatriz de mis sueños (Empress of the Splendid Season, 1999), trans. Jaime Zulaika, ed. Plaza & Janés.
- Una sencilla melodía de La Habana (A Simple Habana Melody, 2002). Not translated to Spanish.
- Dark Dude (Dark Dude, 2008), trans. by Alberto Jiménez Rioja, ed. Everest. International Latino Book Prize for Best Novel for Young Readers. Young adult novel.
- Bella María de mi alma (Beautiful Maria of My Soul, 2010), trans. Máximo Sáez, ed. Suma de Letras. 2nd part of Los Reyes del Mambo tocan canciones de amor. For the song: Beautiful Maria of My Soul.
- Pensamientos sin cigarrillos: memorias (Thoughts Without Cigarettes: A Memoir, 2011). Memoirs. Not translated to Spanish.

Although his characters are not all characterized as immigrants arriving in the United States, they all share the fact that they face the assimilation of a new culture. In that context, the writer proposed in his works that for many of these characters, the clash with a culture different from their own proved to be aggressive. In the same way, he reflected that they themselves struggle to cling to their ethnic and national identity.

The writer was playing tennis on October 12, 2013 at the age of 62 and collapsed on the court, after which he never regained consciousness.