Denison University's women's studies department and the provost's office is sponsoring a convocation featuring feminist author Gloria Anzaldua at 4:30 p.m., Thursday (Oct. 30) in Slayter Auditorium. A book signing will follow her talk. Admission is free and open to the public.

In prose and poetry, Anzaldua recounts the experience of growing up on the Texas-Mexico border, interweaving the personal, the historical, and the mythical in a way that continues to challenge simple ideas of community and identity. She is known for her sharp insights, her spirituality, her poetic blending of languages, and her ability to immerse the reader in both the painful and visionary experiences of marginalization. Her bookBorderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestizacombines Spanish and English poetry, memoir, and historical analysis, and has become a classic in Chicano border studies. She has received a Best Books of 1987 from the Literary Journal, a prestigious NEA Fiction Award, the 1991 Lesbian Rights Award, and the Sappho Award of Distinction in 1992.

Anzaldua is one of the principal founders of Chicana feminism. She has edited the anthologiesMaking Face/Making Soul: Haciendo Caras(1990) andThis Bridge Called My Back: Writing by Radical Women of Color(1983). She has taught creative writing, Chicano studies, and feminist studies at several universities and currently resides in Santa Cruz, Calif.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575