El Cuarto
The Room Where Culture Lives
Welcome to El Cuarto del Quenepón
“El Cuarto” means “the room” in Spanish—a space of gathering, of conversation, of creative exchange. Since 2001, El Cuarto del Quenepón has been that space for Puerto Rican culture: a room where artists, writers, musicians, and readers come together to explore, celebrate, and critique the cultural life of our island and its diaspora.
Our Mission
El Cuarto del Quenepón exists to document, analyze, and celebrate Puerto Rican contemporary culture. We believe that culture is not a luxury but a necessity—that art, literature, and music are how communities understand themselves, preserve their histories, and imagine their futures.
We are committed to:
- Depth over speed — Long-form criticism and reportage that takes culture seriously
- Island and diaspora — Covering Puerto Rican culture wherever it flourishes
- Access and preservation — Making cultural knowledge freely available through our digital archive
- New voices — Publishing emerging writers alongside established critics
Our History
El Cuarto del Quenepón was founded in 2001 in Santurce, San Juan, during a moment of cultural ferment on the island. Our founders—a group of writers, artists, and academics—saw the need for an independent publication that could cover Puerto Rican culture with the seriousness it deserved.
In those early years, we published a quarterly print edition distributed through bookstores, museums, and cultural centers across the island. We covered gallery openings and underground concerts, published poetry and fiction, reviewed books that mainstream media ignored.
When Hurricane María struck in 2017, our office in Santurce was damaged along with so much else. But the crisis also clarified our mission. In the years since, we’ve recommitted to documenting Puerto Rican culture—including the cultural responses to disaster, displacement, and the ongoing struggles of life on the island.
Today, El Cuarto del Quenepón publishes primarily online, reaching readers across Puerto Rico, the mainland United States, and wherever the Puerto Rican diaspora has planted roots.
The Name
Why “Quenepón”? The quenepa (also called Spanish lime or mamoncillo) is a fruit native to the Caribbean, beloved across Puerto Rico. Every summer, vendors sell branches heavy with the small green fruits, and children stain their fingers breaking open the thin shells to reach the sweet-tart flesh inside.
“Quenepón” is the augmentative form—a big quenepa, an abundant quenepa. It suggests generosity, sweetness, the pleasures of island life. El Cuarto del Quenepón is a room full of that abundance: a space where Puerto Rican culture can be savored in all its richness.
Contact
We welcome submissions, letters, and inquiries.
Editorial: editor@cuarto.quenepon.org
Submissions: See our submission guidelines
General inquiries: info@cuarto.quenepon.org