Listen to audio recordings of prominent writers from Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula, the Caribbean, and other regions with Luso-Hispanic heritage populations reading from their works at the Library of Congress.

The PALABRA Archive at the Library of Congress dates back to 1943. Historically known as the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape (AHLOT), this collection contains nearly eight-hundred recordings of poets and prose writers participating in sessions at the Library’s Recording Laboratory and at other locations around Spain and Latin America. Recordings include sessions with Nobel Laureates Gabriel García Márquez, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, and renowned writers, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar and Jorge Amado. To date, thirty-four countries are represented in the collection, and it includes readings in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Mayan, Náhuatl, Zapotec, Aymara, English and Dutch.

A large portion of these recordings were captured on magnetic tape reels. In digitizing the Archive and presenting it online, the Library hopes to greatly broaden its use and value. The material featured in this online presentation represents a sample of the Archive. The site will provide access to additional items from the Archive on a monthly basis over the next several years.

To learn more about the PALABRA Archive go to https://guides.loc.gov/palabra-archive, or consult the reference staff in the Library of Congress Hispanic Reading Room.