Given the explosive creativity shown by Chicana writers over the
past two decades, this first major anthology devoted to their
work is a major contribution to American letters. It highlights
the key issues, motifs, and concerns of Mexican American women
from 1848 to the present, and particularly reflects the modern
Chicana's struggle for identity. Among the recurring themes in
the collection is a re-visioning of foremothers such as the
historical Malinche, the mythical Llorona, and pioneering women
who settled the American Southwest from the sixteenth to
twentieth centuries. Also included are historical documents on
the lives, culture, and writings of Mexican American women in
the nineteenth century, as well as oral histories recorded by
the Federal Writers Project in the 1930s. Through poetry,
fiction, drama, essay, and other forms, this landmark volume
showcases the talents of more than fifty authors, including
Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Ana Castillo, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Denise
Chávez, Sandra Cisneros, Pat Mora,