Iris M. Zavala –a Puerto Rican author, scholar, and poet, who later lived in Barcelona, Spain – died from Covid-19 on 10 April 2020
She had over 50 works to her name, plus hundreds of articles, dissertations, and conferences and many of her writings, including "Nocturna, mas no funesta", build on and express this belief.
She died from COVID-19 in Madrid during COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, at the age of 83.
Zavala was born on 27 December 1936 in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a B.A. in literature and from the University of Salamanca with a "Licenciatura" degree as well as a "Doctor en Filosofía y Letras" (Ph.D.). There, she was influenced by Spain's Fernando Lázaro Carreter.
Zavala taught in Puerto Rico, México, United States, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, and Spain. In Spain she was a UNESCO fellow at the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, and a Ramón LLul fellow at the University of Mallorca. Zavala taught in many universities in the United States, including the University of Minnesota.
She was also a literary critic and essayist. In 1980, she wrote her masterpiece, "Kiliagonía", a Ponce city novel. Her second novel was "Nocturna, mas no funesta" (1987), published by Montesinos (Barcelona, Spain). It was adapted for a theatrical interpretation by Group Alcores (Madrid). Other works include "El libro de Apolonia o de las Islas" and "El sueño del amor".