Rita Indiana

Rita Indiana Hernández Sánchez (born 11 June 1977) is a Dominican writer and singer-songwriter. In 2011, she was selected by the Spanish newspaper El País as one of the 100 most influential Latino personalities. Her novels prominently feature themes of queerness while the topics of her songs range from Dominican social issues to divergent sexuality. Rita Indiana has been highly recognized and awarded on the Caribbean literary scene, and her viral music success has made Indiana a household name in the Dominican Republic where she is popularly referred to as "La Monstra" (the monster).

Early life and education Born in Santo Domingo in 1977, Rita Indiana is the grand-niece of the soprano Ivonne Haza and great-great-great-granddaughter of the poet and hero of the Restoration War, Manuel Rodríguez Objío. She is also second cousin of the journalist Óscar Haza and of the politician Víctor Bisonó. She was baptized in honor of her great-grandmother Rita Indiana del Castillo y Rodríguez-Objío.

Rita Indiana attended El Colegio Calasanz for 14 years. After finishing her schooling, she continued her education at the Autonomous University in Santo Domingo where she studied Art History. However, she left this course a year after admittance. Rita Indiana then attended Altos de Chavón School of Design but once again left her schooling and decided to pursue a career in writing. She credits her style of writing regarding marginalized youth to Twain's similar subject matter.

Rita Indiana began her writing career with short stories in the mid 1990s, shortly after leaving Autonomous University. At the age of eighteen, Rita Indiana published her first short stories in the only literary magazine in the Dominican Republic at the time. After leaving Altos de Chavon School of Design, she was able to write and publish her first novel La Estrategia de Chochueca in 2000. La Estrategia de Chochueca belongs to her trilogy La trilogía de niñas locas, which also include Papi (2005), and Nombres y Animales (2013). These are peppered with Dominican slang and colloquialisms and center around exploring the social issues present in the Dominican Republic. This trilogy also introduced themes of nonconforming sexual identity not previously highlighted in Dominican Literature. Her early work is highly regarded for its authentic portrayal of Caribbean life and is now studied in literature courses across the United States and the Caribbean.

At the height of their success, Rita Indiana y Los Misterios played at many sold-out venues, including Santo Domingo Hard Rock Café.

Indiana's primary focus is on her literary career than creating music. She admitted that she disliked the "pop fame", and she wanted to walk the streets without being recognized everywhere she goes. Rita Indiana also appreciated the autonomy and independence of writing whereas producing music required extensive collaboration. She has stated that she feels comfortable with her decision to leave the pop music industry where her career felt as if it happened somewhat by accident. Indiana's novel Papi (2005) was adapted into the feature film Papi (2020) directed by Noelia Quintero, of which Indiana was an associate producer and composer, on top of playing the role of Muerta.

Personal life and influence At the 2010 Casandra Awards in 2010, Rita Indiana attended the prestigious event with her partner Noelia Quintero, whom she held hands with and kissed throughout that evening. Rita Indiana was met with public backlash and criticism. Because of her vocal ideas on queerness, Rita Indiana has become a key advocate of the queer community in the Caribbean and continues to use her work to create a space in which a heterogeneous, multiple and complex Caribbean reality is reflected. Though Indiana is not publicly involved in queer politics, by representing the queer community in her work, Indiana uses her musical and literary influence to act as a cultural counter-strategy against homophobia and gender oppression seen in the Caribbean.

Published works Short stories Rumiantes, Riann, Santo Domingo, 1998. Ciencia Succión, Amigo del Hogar, 2001. Cuentos y poemas (1998-2003), Ediciones Cielonaranja, Santo Domingo, 2017.

Novels La estrategia de Chochueca, Riann, 2000 Papi, Vértigo, 2005; Periférica, 2011 English Translation: Papi: A Novel, University of Chicago Press, 2016 Nombres y Animales, Periférica, 2013 La mucama de Omicunlé, Periférica, 2015 English Translation: Tentacle, And Other Stories, 2019 Hecho en Saturno, Periférica, 2018 English translation: Made in Saturn, And Other Stories, 2020 Asmodeo, Periférica, 2024

Discography El Juidero (2010) Mandinga Times (2020)

Singles "Altar Epandex in duo with Miti Miti" "El Blu del Ping Pong" "La Hora de Volve" "Jardinera" "Equeibol" "El Juidero" "Oigo Voces" "Flores de Fuego" "Da Pa Lo Do" "Como un ladrón en la noche" "Bajito a selva*" "Maldito Feisbu" "El Castigador"