Güiro y Maraca was published by the Segunda Quimbamba Folkloric Center for over ten years starting in 1997. In a short time it became the only regular publication in the Puerto Rican diaspora or in Puerto Rico that regularly and comprehensively covered the drum music of the island: Bomba and Plena. Juan Cartagena, editor and principal writer and Rafael Torres, graphic artist, collaborated on the first issues in the early years. Throughout its run Güiro y Maraca included interviews of major performers, composers and singers of these two genres. Near the end of its run G&M provided its subscribers with English and Spanish versions of fascinating essays on the topics of tradition, adaptation, history and contemporaneous expression of these art forms from significant cultural writers from both the diaspora and Puerto Rico.  

 Another important feature of the publication was its listing of Bomba and Plena ensembles primarily in the diaspora and through parts of Puerto Rico. Indeed, the growth of the number of groups listed from 1997 through the next ten years is a testament to the vitality of Puerto Rico´s drum music.  

The Segunda Quimbamba Folkloric Center houses the raw audio and video footage of the numerous interviews documented in G&M.  Collections of the hard copies of the publication were made available to the public at the Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños at Hunter College CUNY; the Hispanic Information Resource Center at the Newark Public Library; the New York
Public Library; and the Biblioteca Criolla of the Jersey City Public Library. Creating public access to the source audio and video footage of SQFC is our next project: Stay Tuned!