structural:reformatting, linguistic:translation
Writings

Martí as a writer covered a range of genres. In addition to producing newspaper articles and keeping up an extensive correspondence (his letters are included in the collection of his complete works), he wrote a serialized novel, composed poetry, wrote essays, and published four issues of a children's magazine, La Edad de Oro (The Golden Age, 1889). His essays and articles occupy more than fifty volumes of his complete works. His prose was extensively read and influenced the modernist generation, especially the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío, whom Martí called "my son" when they met in New York in 1893.

Martí did not publish any books: only two notebooks (Cuadernos) of verses, in editions outside of the market, and a number of political tracts. The rest (an enormous amount) was left dispersed in numerous newspapers and magazines, in letters, in diaries and personal notes, in other unedited texts, in frequently improvised speeches, and some lost forever. Five years after his death, the first volume of his Obras was published. A novel appeared in this collection in 1911: Amistad funesta, which Martí had made known was published under a pseudonym in 1885. In 1913, also in this edition, his third poetic collection that he had kept unedited: Versos Libres. His Diario de Campaña (Campaign Diary) was published in 1941. Later still, in 1980, Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Mejía Sánchez produced a set of about thirty of Martí's articles written for the Mexican newspaper El Partido Liberal that weren't included in any of his so-called Obras Completas editions. From 1882 to 1891, Martí collaborated in La Nación, a Buenos Aires newspaper. His texts from La Nación have been collected in Anuario del centro de Estudios Martíanos.

Over the course of his journalistic career, he wrote for numerous newspapers, starting with El Diablo Cojuelo (The Limping Devil) and La Patria Libre (The Free Fatherland), both of which he helped to found in 1869 in Cuba and which established the extent of his political commitment and vision for Cuba. In Spain he wrote for La Colonia Española,in Mexico for La Revista Universal, and in Venezuela for Revista Venezolana, which he founded. In New York he contributed to Venezuelan periodical La Opinión Nacional, Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación, Mexico's La Opinion Liberal, and The Hour from the U.S.

The first critical edition of Martí's complete works began to appear in 1983 in José Martí: Obras completas. Edición crítica. The critical edition of his complete poems was published in 1985 in José Martí: Poesía completa. Edición critica.

Volume two of his Obras Completas includes his famous essay 'Nuestra America' which "comprises a variety of subjects relating to Spanish America about which Martí studied and wrote. Here it is noted that after Cuba his interest was directed mostly to Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela. The various sections of this part are about general matters and international conferences; economic, social and political questions; literature and art; agrarian and industrial problems; immigration; education; relations with the United States and Spanish America; travel notes".

According to Martí, the intention behind the publication of "La edad de oro" was "so that American children may know how people used to live, and how they live nowadays, in the United States and in other countries; how many things are made, such as glass and iron, steam engines and suspension bridges and electric light; so that when a child sees a coloured stone he will know why the stone is coloured.... We shall tell them about everything which is done in factories, where things happen which are stranger and more interesting than the magic in fairy stories. These things are real magic, more marvelous than any.... We write for children because it is they who know how to love, because it is children who are the hope for the world".

Martí's " Versos Sencillos " was written "in the town of Haines Falls, New York, where his doctor has sent to regain his strength 'where streams flowed and clouds gathered in upon themeselves'". The poetry encountered in this work is "in many autobiographical and allows readers to see Martí the man and the patriot and to judge what was important to him at a crucial time in Cuban history".

Martí's writings reflected his own views both socially and politically. "Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca" is one of his poems that emphasize his views in hopes of betterment for society:

I cultivate a white rose In July as in January For the sincere friend Who gives me his hand frankly And for the cruel person who tears out the heart with which I live, I cultivate neither nettles nor thorns: I cultivate a white rose

This poem is a clear description of Martí's societal hopes for his homeland. Within the poem, he talks about how regardless of the person, whether kind or cruel he cultivates a white rose, meaning that he remains peaceful. This coincides with his ideology about establishing unity amongst the people, more so those of Cuba, through a common identity, with no regards to ethnic and racial differences. This doctrine could be accomplished if one treated his enemy with peace as he would treat a friend. The kindness of one person should be shared with all people, regardless of personal conflict. By following the moral that lies within "Cultivo Rosa Blanca", Martí's vision of Cuban solidarity could be possible, creating a more peaceful society that would emanate through future generations.

After his breakthrough in Cuba literature, José Martí went on to contribute his works to newspapers, magazines, and books that reflected his political and social views. Because of his early death, Martí was unable to publish a vast collection of poetry; even so, his literary contributions have made him a renowned figure in literature, influencing many writers, and people in general, to aspire to follow in the footsteps of Martí.