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by Zita Arocha (Editor)
Fourteen writers reflect on the complexities of Mexican American identity in hyphenated America.
At a time when memoir has become an increasingly popular form of self-expression, fourteen writers from diverse backgrounds engaged with one another in a series of writing workshops sponsored by the Center for Mexican American Studies at UT Austin to reflect on their life journeys. They wrestle with issues that shaped them in provocative, evocative, and sometimes humorous short essays. The writers include a lawyer, a civil rights activist, actors, journalists, and professors who write of belonging, national and sexual identity, coping with illness and loss, career challenges, and life-altering events familiar to us all. The contributors write poignantly about losing a parent at an early age; growing up in segregated communities; bravely confronting serious health problems; living in a household with a mentally disturbed family member; the complexity of being "American" as well as "Mexican"; and the professional challenges facing all hyphenated Americans, many of whom are often the first person of color in their workplaces.
Author Biography
Zita Arocha is a bilingual journalist, writer, and educator who has reported on immigration and Latino issues for the Washington Post, Miami Herald, and other publications. She is the author of the award-winning memoir, Guajira, the Cuba Girl, and is working on a historical novel about nineteenth-century Cuban cigar workers in Florida. She is also a writing coach who focuses on memoir.
