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Judith Ortiz Cofer

 
Judith Ortiz Cofer

 
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Judith Ortiz Cofer
 
 
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Judith Ortiz Cofer (born in 1952) is an acclaimed Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
 author. Her works span a range of literary genres including poetry
Poetry

Poetry is a form of literature art in which language is used for its aesthetics and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning ....
, short stories
Short Stories

Short Stories may refer to one of the following.*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , a collection by Liam O'Flaherty*Short Stories *Short Stories , a 1954 collection by O....
, autobiography
Autobiography

An autobiography is a biography written by its subject . The term was first used by the poet Robert Southey in 1809 in the English language Periodical publication Quarterly Review, but the form goes back to antiquity....
, essays, and Young Adult novels.

r born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
Hormigueros, Puerto Rico

Hormigueros is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the western region of the island, northeast of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico; northwest of San Germ?n, Puerto Rico; and south of Mayag?ez, Puerto Rico....
 moved to the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in 1956 with her family to Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey

Paterson is a City in Passaic County, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 149,222....
. Her family often made back-and-forth trips between Paterson and Hormigueros. In 1967, her family moved to Augusta, Georgia, where she attended Butler High School.






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Judith Ortiz Cofer (born in 1952) is an acclaimed Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
 author. Her works span a range of literary genres including poetry
Poetry

Poetry is a form of literature art in which language is used for its aesthetics and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning ....
, short stories
Short Stories

Short Stories may refer to one of the following.*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , a collection by Liam O'Flaherty*Short Stories *Short Stories , a 1954 collection by O....
, autobiography
Autobiography

An autobiography is a biography written by its subject . The term was first used by the poet Robert Southey in 1809 in the English language Periodical publication Quarterly Review, but the form goes back to antiquity....
, essays, and Young Adult novels.

Early years

Cofer born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
Hormigueros, Puerto Rico

Hormigueros is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the western region of the island, northeast of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico; northwest of San Germ?n, Puerto Rico; and south of Mayag?ez, Puerto Rico....
 moved to the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in 1956 with her family to Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey

Paterson is a City in Passaic County, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 149,222....
. Her family often made back-and-forth trips between Paterson and Hormigueros. In 1967, her family moved to Augusta, Georgia, where she attended Butler High School. Cofer received a B.A. in English from Augusta College, and later an M.A.
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
 in English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 from Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public university, coeducational, research university located in Boca Raton, Florida, United States....
.

Cofer's literary work

Cofer's work can largely be classified as creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction

Creative nonfiction is a genre of writing truth which 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 to its craft....
. Her narrative style is strongly influenced by oral storytelling
Storytelling

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, s, and sounds often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture and in every land as a means of entertainment, education, preservation of culture and in order to instill moral values....
, 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
Culture of the United States

The development of the culture of the United States of America ? Music of the United States, Cinema of the United States, Dance of the United States, Architecture of the United States, Literature of the United States, Poetry of the United States, Cuisine of the United States and the Visual arts of the United States ? has been marked by a tens...
 and Puerto Rican, and how this process informs her sensibilities as a writer. Her work also explores such subjects as racism
Racism

Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that Race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race....
 and sexism
Sexism

Sexism, a term coined in the late 20th century, refers to the belief or attitude that one gender or sex is inferior to or less valuable than the other....
 in American culture, machismo
Machismo

Machismo is a prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism....
 and female empowerment
Feminism

Feminism is the belief that women should have equal political, social, sexual, intellectual and economic rights to men. It involves various movements, Theory, and philosophies, all concerned with issues of gender difference, that advocate equality for women and that campaign for women's rights and interests....
 in Puerto Rican culture, and the challenges diasporic immigrants
Diaspora

The term diaspora refers to the movement of any population sharing common ethnicity identity who were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their Settler territory, and became residents in areas often far removed from the former....
 face in a new culture.

In 1984 she joined the faculty of the University of Georgia
University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public university research university located in Athens, Georgia, Georgia , the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning....
, where she is currently Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing.

Partial bibliography


  • Peregrina (1986)
  • Terms of Survival (1987)
  • The Line of the Sun (1989)
  • Silent Dancing: 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 (1996)
  • 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).
  • Catch The Moon


In 2005 she published her most recent book, A Love Story Beginning in Spanish: Poems. 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.

See also

  • List of Puerto Rican writers
    List of Puerto Rican writers

    This is a list of Puerto Rican literature figures, including poets, novelists, short story, and playwrights.New entries should be placed in alphabetical order and follow the formatting for the list....
  • List of famous Puerto Ricans
  • Puerto Rican literature
  • List of University of Georgia people
    List of University of Georgia people

    Notable Alumni...


External links