About Yvette
Yvette Canoura was born in the Bronx. She was only three when her family moved to Puerto Rico: the place she calls home.
At age 16, Canoura began her journalism career as a writer for a bi-weekly newspaper called El Interrogador. During the early 1980s, Canoura had become the youngest working journalist on the island and was stirring up controversy with a series of articles on racial discrimination in the entertainment industry. Canoura also developed the first television news segment aimed at teenagers, Noti-Joven, which aired on Telemundo and highlighted current events, world issues, and stories relating to her generation.
Canoura left Puerto Rico to pursue a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Loyola University in New Orleans. At Loyola, Canoura conceptualized the first campus radio call-in talk show, Cross Talk, focusing on college issues. She was also awarded a scholarship to produce, write and narrate a documentary on AIDS.
After graduation, Canoura landed a job at WSMB radio in the Big Easy as a news producer and special assignment reporter. Soon after, she created Voces Hispanas, a one-hour talk show in English targeted toward educating the community on Latino issues. Voces Hispanas received three Louisiana Associated Press Awards and two awards from the National Association of Business Communicators. A television version of her radio show aired on Public Access Television.
Canoura moved to Tucson to work with National Public Radio affiliate KUAT TV/Radio at the University of Arizona. Homesick, she returned to New Orleans to host Voces Hispanas once again, this time on WTIX radio. Her show earned her three more Louisiana Associated Press Awards.
Canoura produced a series of television medical talk shows for Mercy Hospital and various documentaries for New Orleans Government Access Television.
Canoura’s affair with the Middle East began in 1989 when she met and married her husband. Her love for his family, culture, and people inspired her first romantic suspense novel, Mediterranean Sunset.
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Since its debut in 2019, Mediterranean Sunset has won the Louisiana Author Project, the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, and the Book Fest Award in adult romantic suspense and multicultural genres. Canoura's second book in the series, Children of Antarah, has also received a Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for adult multicultural thriller. Both books have a Reader's Favorite 5-star rating.
Meet my editing and translating collaborators + very special friends!
Marina Alemán is my friend and translation collaborator in Puerto Rico. We get together to find the perfect words to maintain the consistency of the original manuscript. In the process, we learn more about the Spanish language and about each other.
Jeannette Prater has been my friend for over 30 years. She is the first to read my book drafts, edit, and give suggestions. We meet once a week to discuss and write our screenplay projects and catch up on life.