“El Retorno Al Valle” Community Events & Symposium on Gloria E. Anzaldúa & Literary Landmark Unveiling
Sunday and Monday, March 27–28, 2022
Chicana theorist and feminist Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa (1942 - 2004) was from the Valley, living her early life on the ranchos of Jesus Maria and Los Verjeles before relocating to Hargill, Texas. Gloria graduated Valedictorian of Edinburg High School (1962) and later attended our legacy institution Pan American University, graduating with a degree in English in 1968. She also taught at PSJA schools (1969 - 1973) while also pursuing a Masters degree in English and education at University of Texas at Austin (1972). In 1974, Gloria enrolled in the doctoral degree in comparative literature at UT-Austin, later resuming a Ph.D. program in literature at University of California, Santa Cruz.
Her time studying in Austin and working with migrants in Indiana in the 1970s, proved to be formative years for Gloria's social and political activism. Soon after moving to California in 1977, Gloria began editing the anthology This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, which was published in 1980. She is perhaps best-known as author of Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987), which remains popular in UTRGV coursework and studies. In 1990, Gloria published another anthology Making Face, Making Soul = Haciendo Caras and co-published Interviews/Entrevistas (2000), which included selected interviews with Gloria from 1982 to 1999.
Some may be surprised to know that Gloria Anzaldua also published two children's books, Friends from the Other Side/Amigos del Otro Lado and Prietita and the Ghost Woman/Prietita y la llorona.
View the rest of the exhibit online: Rio Grande Valley Women's History Poster Exhibit 2022
On Monday, March 28, 2022 the Literary Landmark for Dr. Anzaldúa was unveiled at the University Library in Edinburg. The marker is located in the courtyard outside the south entrance to the library.
The literary landmark represents the RGV community, campus, and the Society's efforts and collaborations for over 15 years. UTRGV Center for Mexican American Studies and Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa (SSGA) applied for the literary landmark with GAL Project support. The efforts of Dr. Emmy Perez, Dr. Norma E. Cantú, and Dr. Stephanie Alvarez, in particular, made this marker a reality.
Learn more about Gloria's history, “El Retorno: El Valle Celebra Nuestra Gloria”, Anzaldúa Speaker Series in Philosophy, and class projects inspired by her via the UTRGV Center for Mexican American Studies.
Teaching with PSJA
Glover, Lloyd H. The Pharr Press (Pharr, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 24, 1973, newspaper, May 24, 1973; Pharr, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth848458/m1/4/?q=%22gloria+anzaldua%22: accessed August 11, 2021), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Pharr Memorial Library.
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Borderlands / la Frontera by
Literary Nonfiction. Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. LGBT Studies. Fourth Edition. Rooted in Gloria Anzaldúa's experience as a Chicana, a lesbian, an activist, and a writer, the essays and poems in this volume profoundly challenged, and continue to challenge, how we think about identity. BORDERLANDS/LA FRONTERA remaps our understanding of what a "border" is, presenting it not as a simple divide between here and there, us and them, but as a psychic, social, and cultural terrain that we inhabit, and that inhabits all of us. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition features a new introduction by scholars Norma Cantú (University of Texas at San Antonio) and Aída Hurtado (University of California at Santa Cruz) as well as a revised critical bibliography. "The emotional and intellectual impact of the book is disorienting and powerful...all languages are spoken, and survival depends on understanding all modes of thought. In the borderlands new creatures come into being. Anzaldúa celebrates this 'new mestiza' in bold, experimental writing."--The Village Voice "Anzaldúa's pulsating weaving of innovative poetry with sparse informative prose brings us deep into the insider/outsider consciousness of the borderlands; that ancient and contemporary, crashing and blending world that divides and unites America."--Women's Review of Books
El Mundo Zurdo by
Literary Nonfiction. Poetry. Art. Latino/Latina Studies. Women's Studies. LGBTQIA Studies. Border Studies. This collection of essays, poetry, and artwork brings together scholarly and creative responses inspired by the life and work of Gloria Anzald#65533;a. The diverse voices represented in this collection are gathered from the 2007 national conference and 2009 international conference of the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzald#65533;a (SSGA). More than 30 scholars, activists, poets, and artists contributed to EL MUNDO ZURDO, whose release coincides with the SSGA's second annual international conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Friends from the Other Side (Amigos del Otro Lado) by
Having crossed the Rio Grande into Texas with his mother in search of a new life, Joaquin receives help and friendship from Prietita, a brave young Mexican American girl."
The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader by
A collection of published and unpublished writings of the groundbreaking Chicana writer and self-described "chicana dyke-feminist, tejana patlache poet, writer and cultural theorist" Gloria Anzaldúa.
Interviews/Entrevistas by
In this memoir-like collection, Anzaldúa's powerful voice speaks clearly and passionately. She recounts her life, explains many aspects of her thought, and explores the intersections between her writings and postcolonial theory. eBook Available.
Light in the Dark/Luz en lo Oscuro by
Light in the Dark is the culmination of Gloria E. Anzaldúa's mature thought and the most comprehensive presentation of her philosophy. Focusing on aesthetics, ontology, epistemology, and ethics, it contains several developments in her many important theoretical contributions. eBook Available.
Prietita and the Ghost Woman by
Ever since she can remember, Prietita has heard terrifying tales of la llorona -- the legendary ghost woman who steals children at night.Against a background of vibrant folk paintings, Gloria Anzaldua reinterprets, in a bilingual format, one of the most famous Mexican legends. In this version, Prietita discovers that la llorona is not what she expects, but rather a compassionate woman who helps Prietita on her journey of self-discovery.
Teaching Gloria E. Anzaldúa by
"Teaching Gloria Anzaldúa provides pedagogical application of Anzaldúas noted theories including, la facultad, the path of conocimiento, and autohistoria among others. This text provides examples, lesson plans, and activities for scholars, professors, teachers, and community members in various disciplines including, history, composition, literature, speech and debate and more for those interested in teaching the theories of Gloria Anzaldua"--
This Bridge We Call Home by
More than twenty years after the ground-breaking anthology This Bridge Called My Back called upon feminists to envision new forms of communities and practices, Gloria E. Anzaldúa and AnaLouise Keating have painstakingly assembled a new collection of over eighty original writings that offers a bold new vision of women-of-color consciousness for the twenty-first century.eBook Available.
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