The essays and articles in this collection were presented at a conference on "the Puerto Rican in Literature" that addressed, among other issues, the duality of the Puerto Rican experience and the constant oscillation between mainland and the island. The essays represent the vitality, diversity, and distinctiveness of contemporary Puerto Rican letters and writers. Some of the 28 offerings are informal, while others are academic. Some deal with images generated by non-Puerto Ricans, and others are autobiographical. Many pieces discuss the literacy apprenticeship of writers and poets, and others address topics such as aesthetics, translation, education, and the relationship between Puerto Rican literature and other Hispanic-minority manifestations in the United States. The Puerto Rican is projected very differently by authors who reside on the mainland than by writers on the island or in other countries. This collection offers the English-speaking reader a chance to explore Puerto Rican literature in its old and new forms and Puerto Rican culture. (SLD)