Research Guides: Gloria Anzaldua: Biography

Gloria Anzaldúa (September 26, 1942 - May 15, 2004)

Anzaldúa grew up in south Texas. Her father died when she was fourteen, making it necessary for her to work in the fields throughout high school. While a student at Pan American University, she was still working in the fields, and attributed the intersecting experiences of farm worker meetings, La Raza Unida Party conferences, and feminist consciousness raising to forming her early mestiza consciousness. She earned her B.A. in English, art, and secondary education from Pan American University, went on to earn an M.A. in English and education from the University of Texas, and then supported herself through teaching, while writing and producing a number of important works. Continue . . .

Source: Heidenreich, Linda. "Anzaldúa, Gloria." Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America, edited by Marc Stein, vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004, pp. 74-76. From Gale Virtual Reference database.

eBook Collection

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color

A Genealogy of Literary Multiculturalism

Book Collection

Borderlands : the new Mestiza = la frontera

Resources

Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands/La frontera: Cultural Studies, "Difference," and the Non-Unitary Subject Article by Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano.
Gloria Anzaldúa's Queer Mestisaje Article by Ian Barnard.
For Gloria Anzaldúa: Collecting America, Performing Friendship Article by Ivy Schweitzer.
Coming into Play: An Interview with Gloria Anzaldúa Interview by Ann E. Reuman.
Gloria Anzaldúa's Ecocritical Vision: A Spiritual Journey A literary analysis of several works by Gloria Anzaldúa is presented including the poem "To Live in the Borderlands Means You," the semi-autobiographical book "Borderlands," and the essay "La Prieta." It examines these works from a queer studies perspective, suggesting they demonstrate Anzaldúa's ecocritical concerns.
Spirit Matters: Gloria Anzaldúa’s Cosmic Becoming across Human/Nonhuman Borderlands The author argues that the written works of Gloria Anzaldúa, a queer Chicana poet, writer, and feminist theorist, enable readers to experience the intrarelated onotologies or soul shared by humans, animals objects and what cannot be seen but is deeply felt, in response to the claim by various Chicanx/Latinx writers of the absence of critical engagement of Anzaldúa's writings with the spiritual. Topics covered include communing with spiritual worlds in "Borderlands/La Frontera."
Gloria Anzaldua: Reflections from the Borderlands As part of a Special Topics English course of the works of Gloria Anzaldua, University of Texas - Pan American undergraduate students created a multimedia exhibit based on the famous Chicana author's works. Interviews also include the course's instructor, Dr. Marci McMahon, as well as visiting members of The Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldua. The video illustrates some of the major events taking place at UTPA to honor the works and life of Anzaldua, including courses, interviews conducted in conjunction with the UTPA Border Studies Archive as part of the Anzaldua Symposium at UTPA in May 2012, and a ceremony to honor Anzaldua at her gravesite in Hargill, Texas. Interviews were conducted in December 2011 and May of 2012.

From Films On Demand Database:

Gloria Anzaldua Anzaldua writes about racial and gender issues in the 1960s. She discusses blurring racial categories. Anzaldua was born in 1942 in the borderlands of South Texas.
Exploring Borderlands—American Passages: A Literary Survey Chicana writer Gloria Anzaldúa tells us that the border is "una herida abierta [an open wound] where… the lifeblood of two worlds is merging to form a third country — a border culture." This program explores the literature of the Chicano borderlands and its beginnings in the literature of Spanish colonization.