Gloria Anzaldúa Biography

Chicana writer and poet, born in Hargill, Texas, educated at Pan American University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. Her approach to Chicana lesbian feminist studies was met with resistance at the academic institutions she attended in the 1980s. She and Cherrie Moraga co-edited a breakthrough anthology of writings by feminists of colour entitled This Bridge Called My Back: Radical Writings by Women of Color (1981) which generated a great deal of interest in Third World feminism. In her major work, Borderlands/La Frontera (1987), a highly autobiographical text, Anzaldúa mixes literary genres and freely uses both Spanish and English to convey a sense of her Chicana identity and the Chicano people's cultural mestizaje, or blending. The book was highly acclaimed and within two years became widely taught at academic institutions across the USA. Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Women of Color (1990) displays her continuing interest in a wide variety of feminist issues and her commitment to furthering the publication of works by women of colour. See Latino/Latina Literature in English.