Jose M. Irizarry-Rodriguez is a Literature Professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico: Mayagüez Campus. In 1999 he got his PhD at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  His research areas are Early 20th Century Puerto Rican Writing in the U.S. African American Intellectual Discourse and Autobiographical Discourse. In 2006, he participated in the portrait design of the Atenea magazine. His interest areas are 19th and early to mid-20th century American literature, children’s lit and the teaching of literature.