Daring to Write: Contemporary Narratives by Dominican Women

by Erika M. Martínez (Editor), Rhina Espaillat (Contribution by), Leonor Suarez (Contribution by), Ana-Maurine Lara (Contribution by), Yalitza Ferreras (Contribution by)

Overview

With this new Latino literary collection Erika M. Martínez has brought together twenty-four engaging narratives written by Dominican women and women of Dominican descent living in the United States. The first volume of its kind, Daring to Write’s insightful works offer readers a wide array of content that touches on a range of topics: migration, history, religion, race, class, gender, and sexuality. The result is a moving and imaginative critique of how these factors intersect and affect daily lives.

The volume opens with a foreword by Julia Alvarez and includes short stories, novel excerpts, memoirs, and personal essays and features work by established writers such as Angie Cruz and Nelly Rosario, alongside works by emerging writers. Narratives originally written in Spanish appear in English for the first time, translated by Achy Obejas. An important contribution to Latino/a studies, these writings will introduce readers to a new collection of rich literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820349275
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	04/15/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	234
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

ERIKA M. MARTÍNEZ works with the National Writing Project in New Hampshire and is a staff member of their Invitational Summer Writing Institute. She has contributed to various anthologies, including Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education and Homelands: Women’s Journeys across Race, Place, and Time. She lives in Oakland, California.

Table of Contents

Foreword Julia Alvarez xi

Introduction Erika M. Martínez 1

1 The people Who Love Me

Writing toward Forgiveness Angie Cruz 9

Maribel and El Viejo Jina Ortiz 16

The Big News Delta Eusebio Achy Obejas 23

The Day I Lost Melissa Erika M. Martínez 29

The Immaculate Finger Farah Hallal Achy Obejas 37

Halfie Ana-Maurine Lara 44

The Game of Exhaustion Sheilly Núñez Achy Obejas 52

2 I'M Not From Here and I'M Not From There

Identidades/Identities Rhina P. Espaillat 61

In Chinatown Noeis Eusebio-Pol Achy Obejas 65

The Yielding Paths Ángela Hernández Achy Obejas 75

Excerpt from Feasting on Sancocho before Night Falls, a Meditation Nelly Rosario 85

An Heiress from Arroyo Hondo Lissette Rojas Achy Obejas 93

On Being a (Latina) Journalist Juleyka Lantigua-Williams 100

3 That's Not Me Anymore

The Intervention Sofia Quintero 107

The Queen of Chá Marivell Contreras Achy Obejas 118

The Slandered Jeannette miller Achy Obejas 124

Papi Leonor Suarez 129

Greñas Kersy Corporan 143

Pero, M'ija, Where Did You Get That From? Dulce María Reyes Bonilla 147

4 The Countries Beyond

The Caribbean, or the Feminine Face of Multiculturalism Sherezada (Chiqui) Vicioso 159

Saint Martha's Daughter in Madrid Riamny Méndez Achy Obejas 164

The Route Ludin Santana Achy Obejas 173

For a Mango Miriam Mejía Achy Obejas 183

Tía Milena/Milena Tía Carolina González

The Day's List Yalitza Ferreras 195

Contributors 207

Permissions 213

Acknowledgments 215

Editorial Reviews

The anthology serves up more than a brief taste. It’s a necessary and fully satisfying sampling of Dominican women’s voices.

Seattle Review of Books - Donna Miscolta

Be prepared for a feast, and then, as with all such blessings of plenty, share it: tell others about this book, put it on your syllabi, on the shelves of your bookstores and libraries. Nourish yourself and others with the rich and savory sancocho of the work collected here. As we Dominicans say when a visitor arrives at mealtime, ¡A buen tiempo! Readers, you have indeed come at a good time.

Julia Alvarez

A scrupulously curated and a vividly brilliant anthology; in its entirety it is a full-throated song, a treasure chest, a diamond, a spell.

author of This Is How You Lose Her - Junot Diaz

Daring to Write gathers in one volume and for the first time Dominican women writing across genres and against gender norms and borders of all kinds. The result is a moving and imaginative critique of how gender, race, and class intersect in the daily lives of women in the Dominican Republic and in the diaspora. This book is an important contribution to women's studies and Latino/a studies.

coeditor of Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism - Daisy Hernández

For teachers, this collection complicates and expands our understanding, and gives us insight into the lives and stories of Dominican women, including the ones in our classrooms, as well as those of their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and sisters. The book also makes new writers available to teachers, many of whom are published here for the first time in English. . . . The stories and narratives also provide wonderful models for young writers to begin telling the stories of their own lives. The book would be a great addition to any classroom library, as the real value of this collection will be realized when we make it available to our students. Erika Martinez created this book for the young woman she was, and for other young women like her, so that they could see themselves reflected in literature, partly so they could know they were not alone, but more importantly because she hoped to encourage them to speak in their own voices, to be inspired to also dare to write.

National Writing Project - Meg Petersen

Aside from widening the readership of Dominican women writers by publishing previously untranslated narratives written in Spanish, Daring to Write should be commended for including various genres and emerging writers. The myriad themes represented in the twenty-five narratives relate to many disciplines, and the anthology promises to be an important contribution to Latino/a studies and women’s studies.

Latino Studies - Megan Jeanette Myers

Daring to Write gathers in one volume and for the first time Dominican women writing across genres and against gender norms and borders of all kinds. The result is a moving and imaginative critique of how gender, race, and class intersect in the daily lives of women in the Dominican Republic and in the diaspora. This book is an important contribution to women's studies and Latino/a studies.

coeditor of Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism - Daisy Hernández