When people think about Panama, they usually think about the Canal, Caribbean islands, tropical forests, skyscrapers, coffee, beaches and the extraordinary mixture of cultures that exists between the Caribbean and the Pacific. But Panama also has a surprisingly rich literary tradition. Its writers have spent more than a century trying to make sense of a country shaped by the Canal, foreign influence, immigration, Afro Caribbean culture, indigenous traditions, rural life, modern cities and the constant meeting of people from different parts of the world.
Panamanian literature is particularly interesting because Panama's identity has always been complicated. It is Central American geographically, Caribbean culturally in many places, strongly connected to Colombia historically, deeply influenced by the United States and the Canal, and increasingly cosmopolitan. Those contradictions have given Panamanian writers an enormous amount of material.
There are dozens of important Panamanian writers, but several books and authors stand out as essential reading if you want to understand the country's literary culture.
Rogelio Sinán: the giant of Panamanian literature
If there is one writer who should be at the top of any introduction to Panamanian literature, it is Rogelio Sinán.
Born Bernardo Domínguez Alba on the island of Taboga in 1902, Sinán became one of Panama's most important literary figures. The University Technológica de Panamá describes him as a pioneer of the country's literary avant garde, and his career included poetry, fiction, theatre, essays, journalism, diplomacy and cultural work.
His importance is so great that Panama created both the Rogelio Sinán Central American Literature Prize and a national decoration bearing his name.
Onda
One of his earliest and most important books was Onda, published in 1929.
The book was significant because Sinán broke away from the literary conventions that had dominated Panama and introduced avant garde ideas into Panamanian poetry. The University Technológica de Panamá describes Onda as a work that helped initiate literary vanguardism in Panama.
In other words, Sinán wasn't simply writing poetry. He was helping modernize Panamanian literature.
Plenilunio
Plenilunio is one of Sinán's best known novels. Published in the 1940s, it became one of the important works of Panamanian fiction.
The novel demonstrates his interest in psychological and imaginative writing rather than simply producing realistic descriptions of Panama. That move toward universal and experimental themes became an important part of his literary legacy.
La isla mágica
Then there is La isla mágica, generally regarded as Sinán's masterpiece.
The University Technológica de Panamá describes it as his obra cumbre, or crowning work, and notes that it won the Ricardo Miró Prize for the novel. It is a highly imaginative book filled with unusual situations and mythical characters and is considered one of the most complex novels in Panamanian literature.
The title itself is fascinating. An island becomes a kind of miniature universe where reality, myth, folklore and imagination collide.
It is a particularly good example of why Panamanian literature shouldn't be reduced to books about the Canal.
Panama has plenty of history, but its writers have also created completely imaginary worlds.
Ricardo Miró and the poetry of Panama
Before Sinán became the dominant literary figure of his generation, another name had already become synonymous with Panamanian poetry: Ricardo Miró.
His poem "Patria", written in 1909, became one of the country's best known patriotic poems. Panama's cultural authorities describe Miró as the "Poeta de Panamá", and his work has become deeply associated with Panamanian national identity.
Miró published several collections, including Preludios, Los segundos preludios, La leyenda del Pacífico, Versos patrióticos y recitaciones escolares and El poema de la reencarnación.
His importance goes beyond the individual books.
The Ricardo Miró National Literary Prize, Panama's major literary competition, was named after him. Winning a Ricardo Miró Prize has become one of the major achievements for a Panamanian writer.
So even today, Miró's name is essentially built into Panama's literary culture.
Rosa María Britton: one of Panama's most important novelists
Another essential name is Rosa María Britton.
Born in Panama City in 1936, Britton was simultaneously a doctor, writer and teacher. Her medical background influenced some of her literary themes, particularly her interest in women, health and society. She became one of Panama's most important contemporary writers and was recognized by the Panamanian Academy of Language.
She also won the Ricardo Miró Prize multiple times and became an important figure in Panama's literary and cultural institutions.
El ataúd de uso
Published in 1983, El ataúd de uso is one of Britton's best known novels.
Like much of her work, it explores human relationships, social expectations and the experiences of women.
El señor de las lluvias y el viento
Another important novel is El señor de las lluvias y el viento, published in 1984.
Britton's writing is notable because she didn't treat women simply as secondary characters in somebody else's story. Women, their relationships, ambitions, sexuality, health and social expectations are central to much of her work.
Todas íbamos a ser reinas
Published in 1997, this is another of her best known novels.
Britton's bibliography also includes No pertenezco a este siglo, Laberintos de orgullo, Suspiros de fantasmas and Tocino del cielo.
Her enormous body of work helped establish a strong female voice within modern Panamanian literature.
Gloria Guardia: history, identity and memory
Gloria Guardia occupies another important place in Panamanian literature.
She was a Panamanian Nicaraguan writer and essayist whose work included novels, criticism, essays and memoir. The Panamanian Academy of Language recognizes her as a major literary figure, noting that her work was translated into several languages.
Among her best known novels are:
El último juego
Libertad en llamas
Lobos al anochecer
El jardín de las cenizas
En el corazón de la noche
El último juego
El último juego won the Central American Novel Prize in 1976 and became one of Guardia's most important works.
Her writing frequently deals with history, politics, identity and memory.
She is particularly interesting for anyone who wants to understand how Panamanian writers have dealt with the country's complicated relationship with its past.
Demetrio Korsi: Panama, the Canal and popular culture
Another fascinating Panamanian poet is Demetrio Korsi.
His work is especially interesting because it reflects Panama's multicultural and Canal influenced society.
Among his books are El viento en la fontana, Cumbia, El grillo que cantó sobre el Canal, El grillo que cantó bajo las hélices, Los gringos llegan y la cumbia se va and El tiempo se perdía y todo era lo mismo.
Even the titles tell you something about Panama.
The Canal appears.
Americans appear.
Cumbia appears.
The changing country appears.
Korsi's work is therefore an interesting literary window into the Panama that developed around the Canal Zone and the enormous cultural changes that followed.
María Olimpia de Obaldía
Panamanian literature also has an important female poetic tradition, and María Olimpia de Obaldía is one of its historic figures.
She was one of the representatives of Panamanian postmodernist poetry, according to the University Technológica de Panamá. Her books include Orquídeas, Breviario lírico and Visiones eternas.
Her work is part of the earlier generation of Panamanian writers who helped establish a distinctly national literary culture.
Justo Arroyo: modern Panamanian fiction
Moving into more contemporary literature, Justo Arroyo is another major name.
His bibliography includes novels, short stories and biographies, and he has received the Ricardo Miró Prize several times. His books include Dejando atrás al hombre de celofán, El pez y el segundo, Semana sin viernes, Lucio Dante resucita and Vida que olvida.
His writing represents another transition in Panamanian literature.
The country's writers increasingly moved away from simply defining what Panama was and toward exploring broader questions of identity, relationships, psychology and the modern individual.
The Canal appears everywhere, but Panama is much bigger than the Canal
One of the fascinating things about Panamanian literature is how frequently the Canal and its surrounding history appear, even when the book isn't specifically "about the Canal."
The Canal changed Panama enormously.
It brought workers from the Caribbean.
It brought Americans and Europeans.
It created the Canal Zone.
It transformed Panama City and Colón.
It affected politics and national identity.
It created enormous economic opportunities while also creating inequalities and cultural divisions.
It ultimately became central to Panama's struggle for sovereignty.
Naturally, writers couldn't ignore it.
But Panamanian literature also goes far beyond the Canal.
There are stories about rural Panama, islands, families, women, sexuality, religion, folklore, indigenous cultures, Afro Caribbean communities, politics, migration, loneliness, love and simply the strange business of being human.
Panama's literary tradition is surprisingly diverse
If you look at the history of Panamanian writing as a whole, you can see several different literary eras.
The early writers were concerned with establishing a national identity.
Later writers reacted to the Canal Zone and the country's relationship with the United States.
Rogelio Sinán brought avant garde experimentation.
Later authors moved toward universal themes and more psychologically complex stories.
Contemporary writers have increasingly explored urban life, identity, globalization and the rapidly changing Panama City.
The University Technológica de Panamá notes that later generations increasingly moved away from traditional criollismo toward universal themes, imagination and fantasy.
That is an important point.
Panamanian literature isn't just literature about Panama.
It is literature written by Panamanians about the same huge range of human experiences found everywhere.
If you want to start reading Panamanian literature
For someone visiting Panama or simply wanting to understand the country better, a small reading list would be a great place to start.
Rogelio Sinán — La isla mágica
For imaginative, mythical and distinctly Panamanian fiction.
Rogelio Sinán — Plenilunio
For an introduction to one of Panama's most important novelists.
Rogelio Sinán — Onda
For understanding the beginning of Panama's literary avant garde.
Ricardo Miró — Patria and his poetry
For the development of Panamanian national identity in poetry.
Rosa María Britton — El ataúd de uso
For modern Panamanian fiction and the experiences of women.
Gloria Guardia — El último juego
For history, identity and memory.
Demetrio Korsi — El grillo que cantó sobre el Canal
For a poetic look at Panama's Canal era and multicultural society.
Justo Arroyo — Dejando atrás al hombre de celofán
For a more modern side of Panamanian fiction.
The fascinating thing about Panamanian books
Perhaps the biggest surprise is how much literary history exists in a country that is relatively small in population.
Panama has produced poets, novelists, playwrights, essayists and storytellers who have dealt with some enormous questions: Who are Panamanians? What happens when a small country becomes strategically important to the entire world? What does the Canal mean to national identity? How does immigration change a society? What happens when Caribbean, indigenous, European, African and North American cultures collide?
Those questions make Panamanian literature particularly fascinating.
And if you're travelling through Panama, reading one of these authors can completely change the way you look at the country.
The skyscrapers of Panama City aren't just skyscrapers.
The Canal isn't just a canal.
The Caribbean coast isn't just beaches.
The islands aren't just tourist destinations.
The jungle isn't simply jungle.
Behind all of them is a complicated history of people arriving, leaving, fighting, adapting, falling in love, becoming wealthy, becoming poor, crossing borders and trying to figure out what it means to be Panamanian.
That's what makes Panamanian literature worth discovering. It gives you the Panama that you can't necessarily see from a tour bus.