Gloria Anzaldúa
Born 1942 · Died 2004
“A woman who writes has power, and a woman with power is feared.”
– Gloria Anzaldúa
Gloria E. Anzaldúa was a guiding force in defining the contemporary Chicano/Chicana movement and a leader in lesbian and queer theory and identity. Born in southern Texas in 1977 she moved to California where she supported herself through her writing, lectures, and occasionally teaching courses in feminism, Chicano studies, or creative writing. She is perhaps best known for co-editing This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (1981) with Cherri Moraga, a groundbreaking publication not only as a collection by feminists of color, but also for confronting the racism/classism found at the time in feminist thinking. The collection is also noteworthy for fully embracing lesbian voices and concerns and making a clear case that feminism should be inclusionary. Anzaldúa also edited the follow-up volume Making Face: Making Soul/Hacienda Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Women of Color (1990). Voted one of the 100 Best Books of the 20th century by both The Hungry Mind Review and Utne Reader, her semi-autobiographical book, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987), explored the borders between countries, languages, genders, the classes, and even within oneself. She also wrote several bi-lingual children’s books and co-edited This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for Transformation (2002).
Quotes
“The soul uses everything to further its own making. … States which disrupt the smooth flow (complacency) of life are exactly what propel the soul to do its work: make soul, increase consciousness of itself. Our greatest disappointments and painful experiences—if we can make meaning out of them—can lead us toward becoming more of who we are.”
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, p. 68 “The skin of the earth is seamless. The sea cannot be fenced, El mar does not stop at borders”
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza “Write with your eyes like painters, with your ears like musicians, with your feet like dancers. You are the truthsayer with quill and torch. Write with your tongues of fire. Don't let the pen banish you from yourself.”
"Speaking in Tongues: A Letter to Third World Women Writers" “Like all people, we perceive the version of reality that our culture communicates. Like others having or living in more than one culture, we get multiple, often opposing messages. The coming together of two self-consistent but habitually incomparable frames of reference causes un choque, a cultural collision.”
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza “Among the ashes traces of our roots glow like live coals illuminating our past, giving us sustenance for the present and guidance for the future.”
2001 Forward to 3rd edition
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0), chosen with AI.
Books by Gloria Anzaldúa in order
Books by Gloria Anzaldúa in the order they were published, from Borderlands/La Frontera (1987) to Interviews/Entrevistas (2020).
- 1Borderlands/La Frontera
Borderlands/La Frontera1987 - 2Making Face, Making Soul =
Making Face, Making Soul =1990 - 3Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras
Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras1990 - 4Friends from the Other Side =
Friends from the Other Side =1993 - 5LA PrietaLA Prieta1995
- 6Prietita and the Ghost Woman
Prietita and the Ghost Woman1995 - 7Interviews =
Interviews =2000 - 8This Bridge We Call Home
This Bridge We Call Home2002 - 9The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader
The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader2009 - 10Light in the Dark =
Light in the Dark =2015 - 11Interviews/Entrevistas
Interviews/Entrevistas2020 - 12Friends from the Other Side / Amigos Del Otro Lado
Friends from the Other Side / Amigos Del Otro Lado - 13To(o) Queer the Writer: Loca, Escritora Y ChicanaTo(o) Queer the Writer: Loca, Escritora Y Chicana