A collection of published and unpublished writings of the groundbreaking lesbian feminist Chicana writer, poet, activist and cultural theorist

Born in the Río Grande Valley of south Texas, independent scholar and creative writer Gloria Anzaldúa was an internationally acclaimed cultural theorist. As the author of Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Anzaldúa played a major role in shaping contemporary Chicano/a and lesbian/queer theories and identities. As an editor of three anthologies, including the groundbreaking This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, she played an equally vital role in developing an inclusionary, multicultural feminist movement. A versatile author, Anzaldúa published poetry, theoretical essays, short stories, autobiographical narratives, interviews, and children’s books. Her work, which has been included in more than 100 anthologies to date, has helped to transform academic fields including American, Chicano/a, composition, ethnic, literary, and women’s studies.

This reader—which provides a representative sample of the poetry, prose, fiction, and experimental autobiographical writing that Anzaldúa produced during her thirty-year career—demonstrates the breadth and philosophical depth of her work. While the reader contains much of Anzaldúa’s published writing (including several pieces now out of print), more than half the material has never before been published. This newly available work offers fresh insights into crucial aspects of Anzaldúa’s life and career, including her upbringing, education, teaching experiences, writing practice and aesthetics, lifelong health struggles, and interest in visual art, as well as her theories of disability, multiculturalism, pedagogy, and spiritual activism. The pieces are arranged chronologically; each one is preceded by a brief introduction. The collection includes a glossary of Anzaldúa’s key terms and concepts, a timeline of her life, primary and secondary bibliographies, and a detailed index.

"“Keating collects poems, essays, prose and commentaries by Anzaldúa, revealing the public figure the pathbreaking queer Chicana writer as well as a sensual and deeply spiritual iconoclast. Anzaldúa’s voice emerges defiant, mercenary, passionate and unapologetic. . . . . The book is punctuated by Anzaldúa’s simple drawings, exercises in deconstruction and reconstruction of identity. Her writings capturing her relentless fight to avoid being stereotyped and to empower women of color within and without academia are rich and various, exploring everything from gender, memory and oppression to sex in the afterlife.”" - Publishers Weekly

"“The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader is the first and most comprehensive collection of Anzaldúa’s works. Keating has woven them carefully and artfully together into a tapestry sparkling with Anzaldúa’s insights, such as her theories of new tribalism, left-handed world, la mestiza consciousness, and spiritual activism.”" - Feminist Formations

"“Compiled and edited by AnaLouise Keating, Anzaldúa’s long-time co-editor on decolonizing book projects such as this bridge we call home, The Anzaldúa Reader provides an in-depth view of the wide scope of Anzaldúa’s interests and the developing nature of key concepts throughout her writing career. And it is this developing life project of Anzaldúa, the queer mestiza writer-poet-healer-activist, that provides the narrative structure for the Reader.”" - Southwestern American Literature

"“The Reader does a good job of offering a wide range of Anzaldúa’s writings, from her most famous and well-loved essays that appeared in the seminal Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza to never-before-published poems, experimental fiction, interviews, e-mail communications, and unfinished pieces. Anzaldúa was a notorious perfectionist, sometimes revising essays and stories until an editor had to yank them from her hands. Still, this selection would’ve made Anzaldúa proud.”" - Texas Observer

"“This stunning anthology offers the best of Anzaldua, a versatile author, self-described as a queer mestiza Chicana feminist poet-philosopher. Her prolific poetry, theory, ‘autohistoria,’ short stories, and drawings are compiled in this thought-provoking volume.”" - WATER