Judith Ortiz Cofer
Encyclopedia
Judith Ortiz Cofer is a Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 author. Her work spans a range of literary genres including poetry, short stories, autobiography, essays, and Young-adult fiction.

Early years

Judith Ortiz Cofer was born in [Hormigueros, Puerto Rico]] on February 24, 1952. She moved to Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...

 with her family in 1956. They often made back-and-forth trips between Paterson and Hormigueros. In 1967, her family moved to Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...

, where she attended Butler High School
Butler High School (Augusta, Georgia)
George P. Butler Comprehensive High School is a public high school located in the South Augusta area of Augusta, Georgia, United States.George Phineas Butler - Born Jan. 30, 1875.Graduated from ARC, 1891.College- University of Georgia...

. Cofer received a B.A. in English from Augusta College
Augusta State University
Augusta State University is a public university located in Augusta, Georgia, United States and is the oldest institution in the state of Georgia ....

, and later an M.A.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in English from Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...

.

Cofer's literary work

Ortiz Cofer's work can largely be classified as creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other nonfiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which is also rooted in accurate fact, but is not primarily written in service...

. Her narrative style is strongly influenced by oral storytelling, which was inspired by her grandmother, an able storyteller in the tradition of teaching through storytelling among Puerto Rican women. Cofer's autobiographical work often focuses on her attempts at negotiating her life between two cultures, American and Puerto Rican, and how this process informs her sensibilities as a writer. Her work also explores such subjects as racism and sexism in American culture, machismo and female empowerment in Puerto Rican culture, and the challenges diasporic immigrants face in a new culture. Among Cofer's more well known essays are "The Story of My Body" and "The Myth of the Latin Woman," both reprinted in The Latin Deli.

In 1984, Cofer joined the faculty of the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

, where she is currently Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing. In April 2010, Ortiz Cofer was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.

Partial bibliography

  • Peregrina (1986)
  • Terms of Survival (1987)
  • The Line of the Sun (1989)
  • A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood (1990)
  • The Latin Deli (1993)
  • Reaching for the Mainland and Selected New Poems (1995)
  • An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio (1995)
  • Catch The Moon (1996)
  • The Year of Our Revolution (1998)
  • Sleeping with One Eye Open: Women Writers and the Art of Survival (1999)
  • Woman in Front of the Sun: On Becoming A Writer (2000)
  • The Meaning of Consuelo (2003)
  • Call Me Maria (2004)
  • American History
  • A Love Story Beginning in Spanish: Poems (2005)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK