Lorna Dee Cervantes

b. 1954

One of the major voices in Chicana literature, poet Lorna Dee Cervantess writing evokes and explores cultural differencebetween exican, !nglo, "ative !merican, and !frican !merican livesas well as the divides of gender and economics# $orn in %an &rancisco in '()* to exican and "ative !merican ancestr+, Cervantes was discouraged from speaking %panish at home in an attempt to protect her from the racism prevalent at that time, this loss of language and subse-uent inabilit+ to full+ identif+ with her heritage fueled her later poetr+# .hen her parents divorced in '()(, Cervantes and her mother and brother moved in with her grandmother# /er brother had a job at a local librar+ and she became familiar with %hakespeare, 0eats, %helle+ and $+ron, who would have the most influence on her self1conception as a poet# $+ the age of fifteen she had compiled her first collection of poetr+# 2n '(3* she traveled to exico Cit+ with her brother, who pla+ed with the 4heater of the 5eople of %an 6ose at the 7uinto &estival de los 4eatros Chicanos# !t the last moment, Cervantes was asked to participate b+ reading some of her poetr+# %he chose to read a portion of 89efugee %hip,: a poem that enacts the major dilemma of being Chicanofeeling adrift between two cultures# 4his reading received much attention and appeared in a exican newspaper, as well as other journals and reviews# 4he poem was later included in her award1winning debut, Emplumada ;'(<'=. 4he term Emplumada can be translated as a combination of 8pen flourish: and 8feathered,: and it ties poetr+s concern with beaut+ and m+th to Cervantess own obsession with language# Cervantess use of %panish in her first collection presaged the struggles over bilingualism that took place in the '((>s b+ presenting %panish and ?nglish side1b+1side, switching seamlessl+ from one to the other . Emplumada includes verses of mourning, acceptance, and renewal and offers poignant commentar+ on the static roles of class and sex, especiall+ among /ispanics# Characteri@ed b+ their simplicit+ of language and boldness of imager+, the poems recreate the world Cervantes grew up in, both celebrating and mourning her own famil+ histor+# $ut Emplumada also dramati@es the world of /ispanic women, showing the stark social realities and static roles the+ are often forced into, as well as speaking more generall+ to the liminal position of exican !mericans in white !merica# 8$eneath the %hadow of the &reewa+,: one of Cervantess most celebrated poems, shows a +oung women who struggles with her identit+, feeling caught between the wisdom of her grandmother and the c+nicism of her mother# Emplumada earned considerable critical acclaim and continues to be an important work in Chicana literature# 2n '(<A it won the !merican $ook !ward# &ollowing Emplumadas publication, Cervantes life was tragicall+ transformed when her mother was brutall+ killed in '(<A# 4his incident and Cervantess subse-uent mourning and rebuilding of her life, affected her next work, From the Cables of Genocide: Poems of Love and Hunger ;'(('=. !s in Emplumada, the poems in From the Cables of Genocide contain both concrete imager+ and theoretical abstraction# Linda acBregor summari@ed the books differences in Contemporary Women Poets:8/ere the poets st+le is more complex, a result, perhaps, of coping with the violent death of her mother several +ears beforeC%tream1of1consciousness passages abound, interwoven with almost surreal imager+# %panish words now stand on their own, unbuo+ed b+ translation# 4he poetic voice is stronger, more self1assured, more confident# Love and hunger, genocide, injustice, and intercommunication are the cables binding together the poets reflections upon womens roles, "ative !merican histor+, and minorit+ culture#: 8!gain the volume ends optimisticall+,: added acBregor, 8%ection three is composed of clear, more concise, more structured l+rics that express the wa+s love is groundedcabledto the destructive tendencies, as well as to those inexhaustible forces that affirm life#: 2n A>>D Cervantes published rive: !he First "uartet. ! selection of new poems arranged as five books and spanning two decades, the book collected work that had previousl+ been available onl+ in little maga@ines and literar+ journals# artin ?spada called the volume 8a landmark work#: 4he book demonstrated Cervantess ongoing concern with social injustice, radical politics, self1identit+ and women1centered artistic and intellectual activit+# 2n the #ournal of $nternational Women%s &tudies , ?dith Eas-ue@ wrote that although 8Cervantes FhasG steadil+ produced a bod+ of poetr+ which insistFsG on the historical reckoning of injustices committed

against her

exican and "ative communities and b+ extension other populations who have been subject to violence, genocide, or

oppressionCher poetr+ also abounds with poignant verbal portraitures of female personas as survivors, interlocutors, visionaries, and leaders who assert agenc+ in unexpected places and b+ unexpected means#: Cervantes has been much anthologi@edmost notabl+ in multiples volumes of the 'orton (nthologyand has been the recipient of man+ honors and awards, including a Lila .allace19eaders Digest !ward, the 5aterson 5ri@e for 5oetr+ and a Latino Literature !ward# %he is director of the creative writing program at the Hniversit+ of Colorado1$oulder#

FHpdated A>'>G

CAREER

Founder and editor in chief of Mango Publications (publishes Mango, a literary review of works by Chicano writers), San Jose, C ! instructor of creative writing at "niversity of Colorado, #oulder! writer$ Founded literary %aga&ine Red Dirt; actively involved in the %erican 'ndian and Chicano %ove%ents since the ()*+s$

BIBLIOGRAPHY

P,-./0

o o o

Emplumada, "niversity of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, P ), ()1($

From the Cables of Genocide: Poems of Lo e and !unger, rte Publico Press (2ouston, .3), ())($

Dri e: "he First #uartet, 4ings Press (San ntonio, .3), 5++6$

lso author of unpublished poetry collection 7#ird ve,8 and recording $n E ening of Chicano Poetr%, ()16$ -ditor of literary reviews Mango and Red Dirt& Contributor of poe%s to %aga&ines, including 'amisdat, #ue tal(, London Meado) #uarterl%, and Re ista Chicano*Ri+uena& 'ncluded in anthologies $fter $,tlan: Latino Poets of the -ineties (ed$ /ay 9on&ale&, ())5), -o More Mas.s/ $n $ntholog% of ")entieth*Centur% 0omen Poets (ed$ Florence 2owe, ()):), 1nsettling $merica: $n $ntholog% of Contemporar% Multicultural Poetr% (eds$ Maria Ma&&iotti 9illan and Jennifer 9illan, ());) and both the -orton $ntholog% of Modern Poetr% (eds$ /ichard -ll%ann and /obert ,<Clair, ()11) and the -orton $ntholog% of Literature b% 0omen: "raditions in English (eds$ Susan 9ubar and Sandra M$ 9ilbert, ())6)&

FURTHER READING

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o o o o
P-/',A'C

Contemporar% 0omen Poets, St$ Ja%es, ())1$

Dictionar% of Literar% 2iograph%, >olu%e 15? Chicano 0riters, First 'eries, 9ale, ()1)$

@o%eli, Francisco $, and Aonaldo 4$ "rioste, Chicano Perspecti es in Literature: $ Critical and $nnotated 2ibliograph%, PaBarito Publications, ()*6$

Sanche&, Marta -ster, Contemporar% Chicana Poetr%: $ Critical $pproach to an Emerging Literature, "niversity of California Press (#erkeley), ()1C$

@S

o o o o o

$merican Reader, ())(, p$ :C+$

Latin $merican Literature and $rts, JulyDAece%ber, ())($

MEL1', su%%er, ()1;$

-e) 3or. "imes 2oo. Re ie), pril ((, ())), p$ ;:$

"ecolte, Aece%ber, ()15$

"hird 0omen, vol$ 5, no$ (, ()1;$